Product Placement.
December 1, 2008
So ever since I was in grade school I understood about product placement in movies. If you’re watching a movie and a huge Pepsi truck drives by, Pepsi just paid that movie budge X amount of dollars. 
If John goes into Kays Jewelers to buy Kari an engament ring…Kay Jewelers just paid that movie budget X amount of dollars…. That’s why in a lot of television shows, sitcom or 
otherwise bottles are turned around so you can see the fuzzy nutrition label. They’re not going to advertise for a company 1. without compenstation and 2. without permission (Coca Cola could get mad that the lesbian is enjoying the beverage and not the heterosexual).
Even on competetors commercials at an early age I understood the difference between verbally and pictorally mentioning or hinting to a competitors product. You can’t just put Joe Black on television saying Advil sucks you must choose Tylenol, or studies say that Colgate eats Crests ass. You must block out the label, but you can still use the colors… etc etc etc…
Anyway, until today, I never thought about product placement in magazines. I’m not talking about advertisements in Better Homes & Gardens. And well I guess the example I’m about to give isn’t even from a magazine, it’s from a Catalog, which makes the product placement conundrum even more complex… What is the significance of product placement in a Catalog… 
Now my ex could probably tell me if the two companies are under one another, or share a parent corporation…but he’s not here, so assuming that Nintendo and Crate & Barrel have no relationship…Why is there a wii remote on the staged floor next to The Art of Richard Diebenkorn. and further more why is there a 2nd generation nano ipod and an 8 gig ipod touch recharging on the Kingston Charging Valet? Did Apple pay for that photo? Did Crate & Barrel choose those products to entice the audience of the Wii and Apple products? I just might have to go through this catalog again and pick out more product placements. 
While I’m on the subject… I’d like to bring to light all of the walking “poster” children, or perhaps we could call them walking billboards… I like walking billboards-And I am one of those.
A walking billboard is someone who’s shirt, pants, or other articles of clothing and accessories have huge-ass logos of the store from which you bought them. Some of my favorite sweatshirts brand me an Aero girl. Vintage T-shirts are an EXCELLENT example…Tootsie Roll, Tricks, the original Nintendo…there are so many… even Mr. Rodgers (God rest his awesome soul) made it onto a Target vintage tee. And the “best” (and by best I mean worst) part about walking billboards is that it’s not even free advertisement for the company on the billboard…WE ARE PAYING THEM to advertise for them…like it’s a privilege and an honor to walk around and let people know you like Nike and all the asian children that get chopped up in the machines, or paid a nickel for a days work, which is usually more than the 8 hour work day some Americans are enlightened to have here…but I digress into another topic. Walking billboards…yes. They’re the heart of pop-culture. and this to will pass…hopefully.
There used to be a time when I first became alert to this walking billboard phenomenom, that I decided to not take part in it. I wouldn’t buy an article of clothing with a logo plastered on it, but then I fell in love with vintage tees and I reasoned it was okay because I wasn’t paying wonder bread to wear a shirt with their logo on it…I was paying JCPenny (or whereever I got it from!) So it started there, and part of me was helped with not purchasing logo clothing because I couldn’t FIT into logo clothing….but now that I can….I’ve fallen….I’m inlove with my Aero clothes, and I wear them anytime I’m not at work! My new fav PJs have Aero on the top and bottom! I love them…. and perhaps I wear Aero because it’s affordable, I pay $25 max for jeans, and usually sweatshirts too… So I am a walking Billboard for Aero because I enjoy their clothing, and I am proud to let people know that I cuddle with my Aero clothes on.
okay so whilst I was googleing pictures for this post, I came across another topic of product placement…Hot semi-or in some cases all-naked chicks…Now I know half naked guys are used for product placement too, but when do you see those ads in mass media? and if I need to see a naked guy photo the first place I’m going is to a men’s health magazine.
Ever looked at one of those? it’s like homos-R-Us (notice the product placement there?).
Yes that is an iPod on her cooch ….And in the Nintendo photo notice the Catholic school girl skirt and the white uniform shirt…a gamer-boy’s wet dream.
Any thoughts? Any favorite product placements you have floating around your brain? Are you a walking billboard? if so, for who?
Ahhhh this bothers me ALL THE TIME. I, too, love Aero. I wear their camis every day. I depend on them. I used to buy a lot more from there before they vomited their giant logo onto almost EVERYTHING they sell. Have you noticed their logos got bigger and bigger every year?
I totally agree, we are paying them to advertise. Fuck that. Fuck that so hard. Now when I go in half the stores at the mall, I have to pick through the 5 items of clothing they have that don’t have a giant logo on them. I just can’t do it.
I used to make my own t-shirt designs on plain t-shirts. I should go back to that.
I should add, however, that I would whore out Nintendo any day of the week. For some reason though, they turned down my offer to do photo shoots of my playing my DS in my PJ’s in my dog-hair covered bed, laying in my own Cheerios.
LOL Liz that was hilarious.
Anyway, yeh i really don’t like any logo stuff at all, even vintage tees because…well…they’re not really vintage…they’re from target…
but I DO wear band shirts because advertisement of a favourite music group isn’t necessarily saying “go buy their stuff” but just that you like their music. But i’d never like PICK OUT a shirt with a giant logo on it. i wear black mostly, plain and simple.