Spend Another Day ,18/04/2009
Media Awareness Network,http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/educational/teachable_moments/word_from_our_sponsor.cfm ,
In Die Another Day, the latest James Bond film, viewers can be forgiven if they have a hard time distinguishing the action from the ads.Like its predecessor, Tomorrow Never Dies (which garnered the largest product-placement deal in history at that time - over $100 million), Die Another Day is more of a pyrotechnic-laden infomercial, than an action movie. With $120 million in marketing campaigns tied to the film, unofficial co-stars included Samsonite luggage, Omega watches, a Phillips heart rate monitor, Bollinger champagne, Heineken beer, Sony security systems, laptops, TV cameras and cellphones, and British Airways. In addition, in Die Another Day James Bond has traded in his famous BMW for an Aston Martin Vanquish - courtesy of Ford, which reportedly paid $35 million for the privilege of providing wheels to James and his foes. This kind of aggressive advertising campaign, which combines the allure of movies with product placement, is proving to be a potent advertising package that film producers and advertisers find hard to resist.
Product placement in movies and TV is becoming more and more pervasive. When the main character in a movie or a TV show touches, eats or uses a product, companies expect maximum returns. For example, Ray-Ban claims that sales of the Predator 2 sunglasses worn by Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black, have tripled to almost $5 million since the release of the movie in 1997.
Product placement is not new to the movie and television industry. In 1982, ET: The Extra-Terrestrial made Reese's Pieces a household name. The Reese's Pieces deal involved no money, just free candy.
An estimated 90 percent of movie and almost all TV product placements involve no exchange of money - a legacy of U.S. "payola" regulations from the 1950s. However, both the studios and the companies end up making money. Studios get free props, and the companies get advertising, which they hope may result in the kind of product awareness ET brought to Reese's Pieces. In Canada, the regulations are less restrictive, but since most Canadian shows want to be exported to the U.S., they stick to the U.S. guidelines.
TV producers say product placement practices arose in the 1980s as a way to make sets look more realistic. Stephen Stohn, an executive producer for the CBC soap Riverdale, says realism is one of the primary reasons his show features over 250 brand name products.
"If people are going to believe they're inside a Canadian mall, they're not going to believe it unless there are real companies and brand names around."
Phillip Hart, President of MMI Product Placement in Toronto, which currently represents 19 major companies with more than 200 brands, says it is important that the studios portray these products in a favourable light.
"A lot of our work is making sure the product sits in environments where it really belongs, that it won't insult the company," he says.
"Not insulting the company" has taken on a special relevance after Reebok's breach-of-contract suit against TriStar Pictures over product placement in Jerry Maguire. Reebok had asked that the film contain a full-length commercial for Reebok, which was eventually edited out of the movie. However, a scene in which one of the characters shouts obscenities at Reebok remained on film, and Reebok's subsequent settlement of $10-million dollars sent a chill throughout the movie and television industries.
Precedents like these ensure that products used in movies and on TV will most certainly be presented in a positive light. For now, it's safe to assume that James Bond will not be seen crashing his Aston Martin Vanquish, after drinking a little too much Bollinger Champagne and Heineken beer.
Source for recent James Bond statistics: Globe and Mail, November 22, 2002
In 1998, BusinessWeek featured a Product Placement Hall Of Fame, that included:
the Reeses Pieces in E.T (sales shot up by 65% after these candies appeared in the movie)
Budget Rent-a-Truck in Home Alone
Red Stripe Beer in The Firm (within a month of the film's release, sales of Red Stripe in the U.S. rose by 50%)
the "Junior Mints Episode" of "Seinfeld"
Pizza Hut Pizza and Nuprin pain relievers in Wayne's World
the "Reebok scene" in Jerry Maguire
Ray Ban glasses in Risky Business and Men in Black
the product placement bonanza: Visa card, Avis car rentals, BMW cars and motorcycles, Smirnoff vodka, Heineken beer, Omega watches, Ericsson cell phones and L'Oreal makeup in Tomorrow Never Dies
Chanel perfume in Anastasia (the first time product placement appeared in an animated picture)
Hasbro action toys in Small Soldiers
Product placement has become so much a part of the movies and television, that an entire industry has developed in this area. A visit to the "Feature This" Web site, at http://www.featurethis.com/, offers a fascinating glimpse of the marketing opportunities that are available on the big screen.
Classroom Activities
Ask students to count the number of brand name products they can spot on a prime time television show.
How often is each product shown? Are some products displayed more often than others?
Does there seem to be a relationship between product placement and the viewing audience? For example, are the products used by characters in a sitcom such as Friends or Beverly Hills 90210 the sort that would appeal to a predominantly teenage viewing audience?
At what points in the program are the visible brand name products shown? Is there a pattern?
Are these products shown in a favourable light?
Do you agree that name brand products add realism to television shows and movies? Why or why not?
Do you agree with the concept of 'favourable representation'? Are there negative aspects which should be shown ? for example, an overweight person eating a calorie-laden burger, a smoker who has lung cancer, a character who gets drunk and injures him/herself or others.
Have students watch a non-animated children's movie and note the product placement.
What makes children particularly vulnerable to this kind of advertising?
Are there any guidelines in place to protect children from this sort of influence? (Have students look check out the CAB Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children.)
What about the phenomenon of product placement through cross-marketing, where characters from children's movies are part of kids' "happy meals" and promote the hamburger chain in commercials?
Is this similar to product placement?
Is money exchanged in this sort of arrangement? If so, how much?
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