A Shift Toward Product Placement

Have you ever noticed that your favorite television or movie character drinks a certain soda or drives a certain car?  Perhaps you have noticed the guys from Entourage sharing a few bottles of Budweiser, Phil from Modern Family driving his kids to school in a Toyota, or even the big Gillette sign overlooking Atlantic City in Boardwalk Empire.  These are all examples of product placement.  These products, which viewers are able to buy in real life, are not placed in shows and movies by accident.  Companies pay to feature their products in television shows as a different method of reaching the audience than the standard television commercial.  Because new technology (DVR, on demand, and the internet) allows viewers to fast forward through commercials, product placement has become more prevalent in recent years.

That’s not to say product placement is a new phenomenon.  In fact, it’s quite the opposite.  I’m sure you remember E.T.’s favorite candy.  James Bond wasn’t cruising on the cliffside road in a generic automobile, was he?  And in the notorious Seinfeld episode, it was a certain type of mint that Kramer famously dropped into a patient during surgery.  So next time you’re laying on your couch watching TV or at the local theater catching a flick, think to yourself: am I being advertised to right now?

Alex Campbell, Fall 2011 Intern, University of Delaware