Last night 12/4/08, I was watching Survivor when Jeff Probst proclaimed that the victor in the next challange would get to see a video message from a loved on at home. Fair enough. The he announces that they will watch said vido on the the new Samsung Instinct phone by Sprint. Are you f*ing kidding me. He said the words "Sprint Phone" five more times in the next five minutes.
Right, it's blantant product placement. Since advertisers can no longer count on everyone watching their commercials in this TIVO age, they've put their little heads together and come up with new ways to inudate us with their products. And there is very little we can do about it. First came the constant banners at the bottom of the screen, the transparent logos flashing every few minutes while you watch a movie, the 15 phone calls I receive every bleeping night in spite of the fact I'm on the do-not-call list. Now this.
Product placement has been around from a long time. Be it a can of Coke on the kitchen table in "Friends" or Resses pieces in E.T. And, to that, level of placement, I have no objection. Why? Because it's stupid to see a character lift a can with a generic "Cola" label. If it fits what they are doing, if it's incidental to what the character would actually consume in his world, fine.
The second level, the Survivor level, of actually mentioning a product, and pointing to it, is pretty offensive. No one talks like that. It takes the viewer out of the world they're watching. Even in "Survivor". The adverising gurus who came up with this crap should be sweeping trash in the subway. And I don't believe for an instant that it sells more product than the first level of placement. It's just obnoxious. And impossible to get away from.
The third level goes beyond even that. When I first heard of this, I thought it was a joke. The final level of product placement involves structuring an entire plot line around a product. The character talks about the product, describes the product, conversations around it ensue. But beyond that, the plot has to show how the character uses the product to help him reach his goal. I say again, are you f*ing kidding me!
I was watching "Charlie Rose" and the guest was the dewb Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC entertainment, another guy who's job should be taking out my garbage. Young Benjamin explained in excited details how the new era of his network's shows will revolve around a product. For example(I'm paraphrasing) showing how this cell phone was better than that one and how it helped a character get over an obstacle that he couldn't with his old phone. Yikes. Ben thought this was such a great idea , he was so thrilled at the prospect of developing his shows like this, that they were times he could hardly talk.
What keeps me up at night is how kids today are going to perceive this. They will swallow it whole and without question. Because no one will object. They'll be bought up on it as normallacy. They'll be programmed to be consumers. I wonder if they'll even be able to recognize a good show, or just watch to see their favorite product. Instead of reaching out to people when they need help, they'll reach for a product. Exactly as the executives planned.
Here's a thought- if your revenue stream is down, develop a good show, make a good movie, one with real characters and great story, not just a prolonged commercial. Then you'll get more money. Instead of trying to force marketing down the throat of a mediocore show. Shame on you.
