I recently saw the action movie “Thor,” a sci-fi thriller about the mythical Norse God of Thunder. I entered the theater rather reluctantly (the group of friends I was with had firmly denied my pleas to go see “Water for Elephants”), but “Thor” was actually better than I had expected. However, I was annoyed by the movie’s blatant overuse of product placement. For example, in one scene, Natalie Portman’s character fumbled with a box of Kashi cereal for literally five minutes.
According to Front Row Marketing, 18 other brands were shown and/or mentioned in “Thor,” including Acura, Dell and Southwest Airlines. Product placement is supposed to do what mere commercials cannot – persuade customers to use a product by subtly placing it in an everyday context (as “everyday” as speaking to a Norse god can be). However, the product placement in “Thor” seemed overly excessive. For me, the plethora of brand-name products and the unnecessary number of times each brand was shown actually decreased the effectiveness of this method of advertising.
On the other hand, the award-winning TV series “
Mad Men,” which depicts a 1960’s Madison Avenue advertising agency, uses product placement very effectively. No anachronism here – the show stays true to the era, only incorporating brands (such as American Airlines, Gillette, and Smirnoff) that already existed in the 1960’s. However, what truly makes this show’s product placement so effective is that we have no idea which companies have paid to have their products included, and which have not. An entire episode might be devoted to a single product, leaving us wondering – did money change hands, or did this product simply serve the script best?
We will probably never know, and that is part of the allure of “Mad Men.” Advertising is largely about playing off of emotions, and the aura of mystery surrounding the show’s seamlessly integrated products leaves me feeling curious, rather than annoyed. I would much rather spend 45 minutes hearing about Heineken beer
in the context of the plot, than have a box of Kashi waved at me for five minutes in an awkward, contrived scene. After all, the whole point of product placement is to incorporate products into shows or movies so well that the audience doesn’t feel like they’re watching a commercial.
As DVRs become more commonplace, and as online content overtakes printed newspapers and magazines, traditional advertising – like commercials and print ads – is becoming less effective. This means we’ll likely see even more product placement in the coming months. What shows or movies have you seen lately that effectively used product placement? Which ones failed? Share below!