Free Publicity

While reading the insights of one of my esteemed colleagues I began to think about the ways that products are weaved into modern sitcoms, dramas and other scripted television shows. Despite the fact that many people consider product placement to be an instance where a company pays to have their product displayed, I agree with Veronica that product placement should also include instances when the performer/writer includes the product as part of their own message. This is more common in popular TV shows nowadays (as far as I can tell). Shows that utilize pop culture references often end up referencing products with no intent to promote them.

If you know me at all you know that I'm a pretty big fan of NBC's Thursday night line-up. In my mind The Office, 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation can do no wrong (jury is still out on The Community. I just don't like Chevy Chase). These shows are great examples of how pop culture references are often unintentional commercials because some of their humor is based on poking fun at society. When I sat down to write this post I didn't have a particular instance in mind, but as I have been writing I have thought of multiple times that these 3 shows have utilized brands or products to help tell their story.

Here are a couple of my favorite examples:

The Office: Andy can't remember the Kit-Kat jingle

Parks and Recreation: Crazy twilight guy

Basically products like Kit-Kat or the Twilight book series are getting free promotion just because they are a part of pop culture. This type of product placement is more and more prevalent in scripted TV nowadays and especially in shows like these that draw humor from mocking or referencing culture.

Expect some opinions on product placement (or lack thereof) in reality television in the future. Also expect more Office references. Believe me, I've got millions of them.