Product Placement in the Media
ENG-211
March 12, 2012
Product Placement in the Media
The world of advertising is busy, congested, and is having trouble reaching a target audience. Their are so many ways to avoid ads, on the internet a user can change or close a page/pop-up, a DVR gives the ability to record and fast forward when watching television, in a magazine just simply turn the page. Product placement has changed the world of advertising impacting what consumers read and watch. Anywhere a consumer goes they’ll see ads, it is at the point where you can’t even avoid the commercials because marketers have slid the ads right into the television shows. If you go to the movies, which a consumer pays for get ready for some ads to fly your way. Product placement isn’t a bad thing though, take a look at where it began, there is a benefit both for the consumer and marketer, but it needs to be controlled.
First of all, what is product placement? A technique used by a brand to promote products, usually shown in television, movies, or other types of media. Product placement often begins with an agreement between a manufacturer and the media company. Gupta and Gould (1997, p.37) say that product placement “involves incorporating brands in exchange for money or for promotional or other consideration”. Companies will have their product featured in a movie or show. Companies use product placement in hopes that consumers will notice their products, because an actor or character talked about it or used it. Therefore building a better image around the product in effort to spike sales.
Product placements can be traced back to the early 1900’s, but where product placement really took off was in 1982 in a movie called ET: The Extra-Terrestrial. In “The Hidden History of Product Placement,” J. Newell, C. Salmon, and S. Chang (2006) state Reese’s Pieces over-through M&M’s for a leading product placement spot in the movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. When E.T. opened,...