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Pop sellout: product placement in song lyrics
I've always suspected that all the references to brands in pop lyrics were actually carefully placed ads playing with the listener's subconscious. This story seems to prove my assumption.
The Wired publishes an e-mail sent by a marketing agency and "provides a glimpse into the secretive market for song lyric product placement".
"In the e-mail, Kluger (who has represented Mariah Carey, New Kids on the Blog, Ne-Yo, Fall Out Boy, Method Man, Lady GaGa and Ludacris) explained that for the right price, Double Happiness Jeans could find its way into the lyrics in an upcoming Pussycat Dolls song. Crouse posted the e-mail on his blog at the Anti-Advertising Agency, an art project of sorts that's basically the philosophical mirror image of a traditional ad agency."
A representative from Kluger immediately asked to have the e-mail removed from the website because they didn't like the comments. They also claimed that product placement doesn't affect artistic integrity.
"Kluger's angry, litigious reaction to his offer being posted indicates that he knows he's doing something a bit shady. Bands like The Pussycat Dolls don't have much integrity to lose, but we were still sort of surprised to find that they sell elements of their songs to the highest bidder."
If only we could ask Janis Joplin how much she made from that Mercedes Benz placement... I've always suspected that all the references to brands in pop lyrics were actually carefully placed ads playing with the listene... more -
Documentaries as Ads
While documentaries like "Super Size Me" and "The Smartest Guys in the Room" have shown corporate practices in a negative light, now it seems that some companies are trying to do some filmmaking of their own. While documentaries like "Super Size Me" and "The Smartest Guys in the Room" have shown corporate practices in a n... more
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McMorning - news channels sell the right to McDonald's to place products in n...
Several regional tv outlets in the states have begun to sell rights to McDonalds to place products on news desks whilst anchors read the news. Several regional tv outlets in the states have begun to sell rights to McDonalds to place products on news desks whilst anchors read t... more
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Product placement hits the FOX newsroom
Several TV outlets have begun to sell the fast food giant McDonald's the right to place cups of its iced coffee onto the desks of news anchors as they present morning current affairs shows.
Typical is Fox 5 News, an affiliate of Rupert Murdoch's Fox television network in Las Vegas.
Two cups of coffee, their cubes of ice glinting in the studio lights, now daily stand before the channel's morning presenters. The presenters conspicuously do not drink from the cups, which is just as well – the cups contain a bogus fluid and fake ice to prevent the cubes melting.
The New York Times has reported that similar deals to place McDonald's products in news shows are up and running in TV stations in Chicago, Seattle and New York.
Product placement has become a major branch of advertising in the US, creeping into all areas of entertainment television. Not only are products seen on camera, they also make their way into drama scripts such as a recent episode of the popular soap, OC, which had one character talk about having "a9.Com'd" a friend on the day the internet search company A9 launched a new Yellow Pages service of that name.
But this is the first time that the form has percolated through to news broadcasting. Journalism ethics groups have protested that this is another erosion of standards.
"There has been in broadcast journalism certainly, and arguably in all journalism, a drifting away from the standards of straight news in the direction of entertainment," said Roy Peter Clark of the school for journalists at the Poynter Institute.
Fox 5 News has declined to reveal how much it is being paid by McDonald's for the six-month promotion. The station's news director Adam Bradshaw said that the product placement was only allowed in programmes that were appropriate, including later morning shows with an accent on lifestyle.
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Just another example of local news failing to perform the BASIC FUNCTIONS of journalism. Several TV outlets have begun to sell the fast food giant McDonald's the right to place cups of its iced coffee onto the desks of... more -
ITV: shares hit by move to oppose product placement
The culture secretary, Andy Burnham, said today that the British government would not accept the European Union directive allowing product placement on UK television.
Burnham said that product placement risked further harming trust in TV, already rocked by last year's series of deception scandals, adding that as a viewer he did not "want to feel the script has been written by the commercial marketing director".
The government's unexpected opposition to product placement will cause concern at ITV, which has previously signalled its support for the practice. ITV's share price had fallen nearly 3% by lunchtime today, down 1.7p to 55.4p.
Today's announcement will shock the UK advertising industry, which is seeing declining returns from traditional TV commercials.
The UK ad industry has been lobbying for the rules on the promotion of products to be more relaxed, as they are in the US.
Burnham said he believed product placement would "contaminate" programming and that there should be a firm line on screen between editorial content and advertising. The culture secretary, Andy Burnham, said today that the British government would not accept the European Union directive allowing pro... more -
Brawndo, The Thirst Mutilator lives!
Valleywag reports that attendees at ROFLcon, the Internet-in-joke gathering in Cambridge, Mass., received a complimentary can of Brawndo, "The Thirst Mutilator" - a new sports drink copped straight out of the movie "Idiocracy" by Redux Beverages. You may recall Redux as creators of the infamous (but non-narcotic) beverage "Cocaine".
Yes, you too can now enjoy Brawndo just as your great-great-great-great-grandchildren will. Just don't water your plants with it! Valleywag reports that attendees at ROFLcon, the Internet-in-joke gathering in Cambridge, Mass., received a complimentary can of Brawn... more -
Product Placement - The New Rules
Great little video exploring the new, insiduous methods advertisers use in new media forms to get their product seen. As it becomes easier than ever to avoid, ignore or fast-forward through traditional commercial breaks, clunky appearances of consumables - from washing powders to chewing gum - pop up more and more in web casts, film and TV. Fox's 'House', for example, is a great opportunity to play count-the-product-placements - one episode even features a patient awakening after ten or so years in a coma, and neatly sliding in his reaction to encountering an Apple iPod for the first time.
See also this article
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/nov/30/advertising...
from the Guardian's media pages, concerning new European Parliament laws on product placement in EU countries. The directives will come into force in member states by late 2009, allowing product placements to appear in cinema, films for TV, sports broadcasts and entertainment programmes.
I know I should feel outraged, or something, but I actually just find product placements quite charming.... Great little video exploring the new, insiduous methods advertisers use in new media forms to get their product seen. As it becomes e... more -
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Product Placement
