As I was looking for inspiration for my first post, I came across a recent article that I personally found hilarious. In it, the NY Daily News comments on the fact that Britney Spears received half a million dollars from “blatant product placement” in her “Hold It Against Me” music video. I had never seen the video—I didn’t feel personally compelled to check it out after listening to the song—but after reading HALF A MILLION DOLLARS, I had to. And yes, among the usual Britney choreography, sexy dancers, and barely there costumes, were blatant product placements for Sony, Radiance by Britney Spears perfume, Make Up Forever cosmetics, and Plentyoffish.com.
I must make an embarrassing confession before I go any further: I love Britney Spears. I’ve loved her since her …Baby One More Time days and continued to love her even as she married randos and shaved her head. Yes, I was one of those people hoping for her comeback and rejoicing when she hit it out of the park with “Circus.” Plainly stated, I’ve been a Britney fan for over ten years. TEN YEARS!! So as a Britney expert, I was not surprised by the blatant product placement in her new music video. Personally, I feel Britney has been selling to me since I was a child.
It all began with …Baby One More Time, Britney’s first album. Though none of her lyrics are blatantly selling you anything, her song “You Drive Me Crazy” was used to promote the movie Drive Me Crazy. You know, the one with Melissa Joan Heart and that hot guy from Entourage. Not only is the song in the title of the movie, but it is also in the trailer, and the two main characters are featured in Britney’s music video. Oh and what was my favorite movie and song at the time? (I was young, don’t judge me.)
Brit was pretty careful with product placement early in her career. In “Oops! …I did It Again,” the only blatant plug was her terrible reference to Titanic. I know you remember the following dialogue in the middle of the song...
"Britney, before you go, there's something I want you to have."
"Oh, it's beautiful! But wait a minute, isn't this... ?"
"Yeah, yes, it is."
"But I thought the old lady dropped it into the ocean in the end..."
"Well, baby, I went down and got it for ya."
"Aw, you shouldn't have."
The video even shows the jewel featured in the film... Though this may not necessarily be considered “product placement,” it definitely got you thinking about Titanic, whether Britney intended it or not. Her next three albums weren’t as obvious in selling anything except for maybe connecting the album Britney to her movie Crossroads—think “I love Rock ‘n Roll” and “I’m Not a Girl Not Yet A Woman” being incorporated into the film if you saw it (if you didn’t, you’re not missing out). The song “Outrageous” from In the Zone was supposed to promote Catwoman, but the contracts fell through, and the only product mentioned in Blackout (as far as I'm concerned) is Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous in “Piece of Me.” In “Circus,” she transitions to using explicit product placement. Her “If U Seek Amy” video shows Britney in the last scenes wearing an obvious Lacoste polo. The video for “Circus” shows Britney putting on a pair of stunning Bvulgari earrings before she even opens her mouth to sing. Going from these typical product placements to what we see in "Hold It Against Me" seems almost like the next step.
As you can see, the Pop Princess has been selling to us all along. Though she may be selling us products, the most distressing things Miss Spears is selling us are ideas and images. I know we’ve all heard the arguments that Spears’s overly sexualized image sold millions of children the idea that girls had to be thin and beautiful along with the confusing message that they also had to be sexy yet pure. Going through her videos chronologically only reinforces the fact that as Spears got older, she sold more sex and more impossible body ideals for women.
So Britney sells: she sells sex and thinness just as well as she sells perfumes and make-up. I find this particularly disturbing since as a child, the things Brit sold me personally affected me, and I know I’m not alone here. Even today I felt an overwhelming desire to run to the gym after seeing Britney’s incredible body after having TWO KIDS—and I’m no dunce, I know what she’s selling me yet I unconsciously bought into it anyway… This made me wonder how the generation of Disney star idolizers is currently handling the messages and products sold to them. Despite being born wayyy after me, the only difference, I've noticed, is that the ideas and products sold to them are a lot more age-appropriate and focus more on products than on the meaning behind them. So while I grew up watching Drive Me Crazy and buying in to messages telling me to be thin and sexy yet innocent, the generation behind me is growing up watching Hannah Montana, purchasing everything associated with the show, and idolizing Miley Cyrus—a star who portrayed herself as a beacon of morals and values. Recently, Miley began following in the footsteps of my girl Britney. Yet as I cheered for Brit and stuck by her side through her waves of terrible music and life decisions, Miley’s fans dropped her when she began selling them values that weren’t in line with her original image. Does this mean that the JBiebs lovers and Disney Channel fans are immune to the dangers of the ideas being sold to them? Not at all. If anything, I think society learned from the rise and fall of the pop-idols I grew up loving and is working hard to protect children from the greater danger of being sold ideas and images while mercilessly selling them products. Interesting, don't you think?
