Product placement, or embedded marketing,[1][2][3][4] is a form of advertisement

, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads
, such as movies, the story line of television shows, or news programs. The prod
uct placement is often not disclosed at the time that the good or service is fea
tured. Product placement became common in the 1980s.
In April 2006, Broadcasting & Cable reported, "Two thirds of advertisers employ
'branded entertainment'â product placementâ with the vast majority of that (80%) in comme
cial TV programming." The story, based on a survey by the Association of Nationa
l Advertisers, said "Reasons for using in-show plugs varied from 'stronger emoti
onal connection' to better dovetailing with relevant content, to targeting a spe
cific group."[5]
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Early examples
* 2 Placement in movies
o 2.1 Self Promotion
* 3 Sports
o 3.1 NFL
* 4 Categories and variations
* 5 Measuring effectiveness
* 6 Consumer response and economic impact
* 7 Products
o 7.1 Automobiles
o 7.2 Consumer electronics and computers
o 7.3 Food and drink
o 7.4 Travel
o 7.5 Tobacco
* 8 Radio, television and publishing
o 8.1 Reality television
o 8.2 Public and educational television
o 8.3 Television programs
o 8.4 Advertiser-produced programming
o 8.5 Comic publishing
o 8.6 Music and recording industries
o 8.7 Payola and legal considerations
* 9 Extreme and unusual examples
o 9.1 Self-criticism
o 9.2 Faux product placement and parodies
o 9.3 Reverse placement
o 9.4 Virtual placement
o 9.5 Viewer Response
* 10 Product displacement
* 11 External links
* 12 Further reading
* 13 References
[edit] Early examples
Product placement dates back to the nineteenth century in publishing.[citation n
eeded] By the time Jules Verne published the adventure novel Around the World in
Eighty Days (1873) he was a world-renowned literary giant to the extent transpo
rt and shipping companies lobbied to be mentioned in the story as it was publish
ed in serial form; however if he was actually paid to do so remains unknown.[6]
Product placement is still used in books to some extent, particularly in novels.
Recent scholarship in film and media studies has drawn attention to the fact th
at product placement was a common feature of many of the earliest actualities an
d cinematic attractions that characterised the first ten years of cinema history
[7] [8]
[edit] Placement in movies
Recognizable brand names appeared in movies from cinemas earliest history. Befor
e films were even narrative forms in the sense that they are recognised today, i
ndustrial concerns funded the making of what film scholar Tom Gunning has descri
bed as "cinematic attractions"[9] these were short films of no longer than one o
r two minutes. In the first decade or so of film history (1895-1907) audiences d
id not go to see films as narrative art forms but as fairground attractions inte
resting for the amazing visual effects they appeared to be. This format was much
better suited to product placement than the narrative form of cinema that came
later when film making became a more organised industry. Taking this as a starti
ng point, Leon Gurevitch has argued that early cinematic attractions share more
in common with the adverts that emerged from the television industry in the 1950
s than they do with traditional films.[10] Gurevitch suggests that as a result,
the relationship between cinema and advertising is more intertwined than previou
s historians have credited, suggesting that the birth of cinema was in part the
result of advertising and the economic kickstart that it provided early film mak
ers.[11] Kerry Segrave details the industries that advertised in these early fil
ms and goes on to give a thorough account of the history of product placement ov
er the following century.[12] In the 1920s, the weekly trade periodical Harrison
's Reports published its first denunciation of that practice with respect to Red
Crown gasoline appearing in the comedy film The Garage (1919), directed by and
co-starring Fatty Arbuckle.[13]
During the next four decades, Harrison's Reports frequently cited cases of on-sc
reen brand-name products,[14] always condemning the practice as harmful to movie
theaters. Publisher P. S. Harrisonâ s editorials strongly reflected his feelings aga
inst product placement in films. An editorial in Harrisonâ s Reports criticized the c
ollaboration between the Corona Typewriter company and First National Pictures w
hen a Corona typewriter appeared in the film The Lost World (1925).[15] Harrison
's Reports published several incidents about Corona typewriters appearing in fil
ms of the mid-1920s.
Among the famous silent films to feature product placement was Wings (1927), the
first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It contained a plug for H
ershey's chocolate.
Another early example in film occurs in Horse Feathers (1932) where Thelma Todd'
s character falls out of a canoe and into a river. She calls for a life saver an
d Groucho Marx's character tosses her a Life Savers candy.
The film It's a Wonderful Life (1946), directed by Frank Capra, depicts a young
boy with aspirations to be an explorer, displaying a prominent copy of National
Geographic.
In the film Love Happy (1949), Harpo Marx's character cavorts on a rooftop among
various billboards and at one point escapes from the villains on the old Mobil
logo, the "Flying Red Horse". Harrison's Reports severely criticized this scene
in its film review[16] and in a front-page editorial of the same issue.
In the film noir Gun Crazy (1949), the climactic crime is the payroll robbery of
the Armour meat-packing plant, where a Bulova clock is prominently seen.
In other early media, e.g., radio in the 1930s and 1940s and early television in
the 1950s, programs were often underwritten by companies. "Soap operas" are cal
led such because they were initially underwritten by consumer, packaged-goods co
mpanies such as Procter & Gamble or Unilever. When television began to displace
radio, DuMont's Cavalcade of Stars television show was, in its era, notable for
not relying on a sole sponsor in the tradition of NBC's Texaco Star Theater and
similar productions. Sponsorship exists today with programs being sponsored by m
ajor vendors such as Hallmark Cards.
The conspicuous display of Studebaker motor vehicles in the television series Mr
. Ed (1961â 1966), which was sponsored by the Studebaker Corporation from 1961 to 196
3, is another example of product placement.
Incorporation of products into the actual plot of a film or television show is g
enerally called "brand integration".
An early example of such "brand integration" was by Abercrombie & Fitch when one
of its stores provided the notional venue for part of the romantic-comedy film
Man's Favourite Sport? (1964) starring Rock Hudson and Paula Prentiss.
The 1995 film GoldenEye was the focus of a highly successful BMW campaign, devis
ed by product placement specialist Karen Sortito, which promoted the automaker's
new Z3 model. Sales of the Z3 surged as film claimed the top spot at the box of
fice. For the next film in the James Bond franchise, Tomorrow Never Dies, Sortit
o created a $100 million promotional campaign that included tie-ins with BMW, Vi
sa, L'Oréal, Ericsson, Heineken, Avis, and Omega SA. The film brought in more than
$300 million dollars.[17]
A recent example is HBO's Sex and the City (1998â 2004), where the plot revolved arou
nd, among other things, Absolut Vodka, a campaign upon which one of the protagon
ists was working, and a billboard in Times Square, where a bottle prevented an i
mage of the model from being pornographic. Knight Rider (1982â 1986), a television se
ries featuring a talking Pontiac Trans Am, is another example of brand integrati
on.
The earliest example of product placement in a computer or video game occurs in
Action Biker (1984) for Skips crisps, a product by KP Snacks. Video games, such
as Crazy Taxi (1999), feature real retail stores as game destinations. However,
sometimes the economics are reversed and video-game makers pay for the rights to
use real sports teams and players. Today, product placement in online video is
also becoming common. Online agencies are specializing in connecting online vide
o producers, which are usually individuals, with brands and advertisers.
[edit] Self Promotion
Twentieth Century Fox, a subsidiary of News Corporation, has promoted its parent
company's own Sky News channel through including it as a plot device when chara
cters are viewing news broadcasts of breaking events.[citation needed] The newsc
aster or reporter in the scene will usually state that the audience is viewing S
ky News, and reports from other channels are not shown. One notable example is t
he film Independence Day (1996).
[edit] Sports
Product placement has long been prevalent in sports as well, from professional s
ports to college sports, and even on the local level with high school sports. Th
is can be attributed to sports being prevalent on television, which increases ex
posure to these products.
The Green Monster at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, was originally built
to have such advertisements, but since 1947 has largely been devoid of such adve
rtisements. The Citgo sign overlooking Fenway Park can also be considered a form
of product placement, despite the Boston Red Sox having a sponsorship deal with
Gulf Oil.
Outside of baseball (which had long had sponsors), product placement in sports b
egan to rise in the 1970s, when NASCAR began to allow sponsors to cover the cars
they were sponsoring with their logos. (For instance, STP was a longtime sponso
r for Richard Petty.) This has subsequently followed with the uniforms the drive
rs themselves wear having sponsor logos. The Arena Football League, NFL Europe,
and several association football leagues eventually allowed sponsors of the unif
orms.
The National Hockey League began allowing sponsors to line along the interior wa
lls of the ice rinks in the early 1980s. This, combined with new rules mandating
players to wear helmets (though some were grandfathered), arguably gave the NHL
a different look in the 1980s than compared with the 1970s.
[edit] NFL
While the now-defunct NFL Europe allowed liberal use of sponsors with the team's
uniforms, the main National Football League (NFL) has long been more stringent.
For instance, the league prohibits logos of sponsors painted onto the fields, a
lthough Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, does have a disposable ra
zor painted onto the field in honor of naming-rights sponsor Gillette. In 2008,
the league allowed sponsors on the practice jerseys of the uniforms, but not the
game-worn uniforms.
The NFL's strict policy contradicts several other policies on the uniforms. In 1
991, the league allowed the individual uniform suppliers to display their logo o
n the products they made in conjunction with the rest of the sports world, and s
ince 2002, Reebok has been the official uniform supplier for the entire league.
In addition, two of the league's flagship teamsâ the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsb
urgh Steelersâ adopted some form of their identity from corporate sponsors. The Packe
rs adopted the nickname "Packers" because they were sponsored by the Indian Pack
ing Company, and later had "ACME PACKERS" written on their uniforms in the early
1920s after the Acme Packing Company bought Indian Packing. The Steelers adopte
d their current logo in 1962 as a product-placement deal with the American Iron
and Steel Institute, which owned the rights to the Steelmark logo. The Steelers
later were allowed to add "-ers" to the Steelmark logo the following year so tha
t they could own a trademark on the logo.
Going the other way, the league has been shown to place itself as the product. N
FL Japan was a sponsor of the football themed anime series Eyeshield 21, which r
an for 145 TV episodes and a handful of specials.
[edit] Categories and variations
Actual product placement falls into two categories: products or locations that a
re obtained from manufacturers or owners to reduce the cost of production, and p
roducts deliberately placed into productions in exchange for fees.[18]
Sometimes, product usage is negotiated rather than paid for. Some placements pro
vide productions with below-the-line savings, with products such as props, cloth
es and cars being loaned for the production's use, thereby saving them purchase
or rental fees. Barter systems (the director/actor/producer wants one for himsel
f) and service deals (cellular phones provided for crew use, for instance) are a
lso common practices. Producers may also seek out companies for product placemen
ts as another savings or revenue stream for the movie, with, for example, produc
ts used in exchange for help funding advertisements tied-in with a film's releas
e, a show's new season or other event.
A variant of product placement is advertisement placement. In this case an adver
tisement for the product (rather than the product itself) is seen in the movie o
r television series. Examples include a Lucky Strike cigarette advertisement on
a billboard or a truck with a milk advertisement on its trailer.
Another variant is the widespread use of promotional consideration in which a te
levision game show would award an advertiser's product as a prize or consolation
prize in return for a subsidy from the product's manufacturer.
Product-placement companies work to integrate their client company brands with f
ilm and television productions.[19] . Jay May, president of Feature This!, a bra
nded entertainment company, explains the process: "The studio sends us the scrip
t. We break it down. We look for our clients' demographics and then we tell our
client this movie is available with this actor, with this director, with this pr
oducer, do you want it?" [20]. Some product placement companies, including http:
//www.boxofficebrands.com, make finding a brand integration deal easy and afford
able, opening up the market to small to mid-size companies with smaller marketin
g budgets.[21]
[edit] Measuring effectiveness
Quantification methods track brand integrations, with both basic quantitative an
d more demonstrative qualitative systems used to determine the cost and effectiv
e media value of a placement. Rating systems measure the type of placement and o
n-screen exposure is gauged by audience recall rates. Products might be featured
but hardly identifiable, clearly identifiable, long or recurrent in exposure, a
ssociated with a main character, verbally mentioned and/or they may play a key r
ole in the storyline. Media values are also weighed over time, depending on a sp
ecific product's degree of presence in the market.
[edit] Consumer response and economic impact
As with any advertising, its effectiveness tends to be assumed because advertise
rs continue to use product placement as a marketing strategy. However, some cons
umer groups such as Commercial Alert object to the practice as "an affront to ba
sic honesty"[22] that they claim is too common in today's society. Commercial Al
ert asks for full disclosure of all product-placement arrangements, arguing that
most product placements are deceptive and not clearly disclosed. It advocates n
otification before and during television programs with embedded advertisements.
One justification for this is to allow greater parental control for children, wh
om it claims are easily influenced by product placement.
The Writers Guild of America, a trade union representing authors of television s
cripts, had raised objections in 2005 that its members are forced to write ad co
py disguised as storyline on the grounds that "the result is that tens of millio
ns of viewers are sometimes being sold products without their knowledge, sold in
opaque, subliminal ways and sold in violation of government regulations."[23]
According to PQ Media, a consulting firm that tracks alternative media spending,
2006 product placement was estimated at $3.1 billion rising to $5.6 billion in
2010. However, these figures are somewhat misleading in PQ Media's view in that
today, many product-placement and brand-integration deals are a combination of a
dvertising and product placement. In these deals, the product placement is often
contingent upon the purchase of advertising revenues. When the product placemen
t that is bundled with advertising is allocated to part of the spending, PQ Medi
a estimates that product placement is closer to $7 billion in value, rising to $
10 billion by 2010.[citation needed]
In a June 2010 research report, "PQ Media Global Branded Entertainment Marketing
Forecast," the research firm reported that paid product placement spending â in tel
evision, films, internet, video games and other media â declined in 2009 for the fir
st time in tracked history, as spending decreased 2.8% to $3.61 billion due to s
evere reductions in brand marketers' budgets resulting from the difficult econom
ic environment. However, paid product placement is also one of the sectors poise
d for the most growth, with PQ Media predicting the 2009 figures to more than do
uble by 2014, when product placement is projected to be a $6.1 billion market. [
24]
A major driver of growth for the use of product placement is the increasing use
of digital video recorders (DVR) such as TiVO, which enable viewers to skip adve
rtisements.[citation needed] This ad-skipping behavior increases in frequency th
e longer a household has owned a DVR.