Targeting the New Yorker

What comes to mind when you think of The New Yorker? Probably not blatant product placement. Yet that is exactly what happened on August 22, 2005. And the lucky sponsor? Take a guess.


That’s right...Target. The August 22 issue exclusively featured ads by Target, accompanied by a reoccurring red and white theme taken from the company’s logo. The problem with this sponsorship is that even the magazine’s signature illustrations echoed the corporate sponsorship. "These were the rules we gave the artists: the ads had to use the Target bull's-eye and had to have New York themes," Minda Gralnek, vice president and creative director at Target in Minneapolis, told the New York Times. But was it clear to all readers that the illustrations were advertisements? It appears that fine line between content and advertisement, which is often hazy in other media forms (check out our other blog posts!), has not remained so clear in print media either.

Apple Product Placement

In college I take for granted how many people own Apple products -- they're as commonplace as Solo cups on the ground on Sunday morning. But when I see Apple products out in the real world, I am reminded that they really aren't as ubiquitous as they seem. In the computer world, less than 5% of computer users use Mac operating systems and more than 90% use Windows operating systems.

With that stat in mind, I present you this one: In 2010, Apple was ranked 2nd in product placement within movies, appearing in 30% of the top movies of the year. It came only second to Ford (Transformers anyone?) and placed ahead of Coca-Cola.



While the media attempts to reflect reality, this stat is in no way representative of the real world. But as Apple gains a greater share of the industry, it may be foreshadowing its growth.

As a matter of fact, it may only be time before we are all driving around in huge Ford trucks, clacking away on our MacBooks (guilty) and sipping on Coca-Cola.

Pony Placement

On a recent episode of Parks and Recreation (a show that I earlier mentioned as having lots of incidental cultural product placement) those savvy writers added a little plot-line to interest all of us product placement gurus. The episode, titled "Harvest Festival" is based around just that, a Harvest Festival, at which a widely celebrated pony is the main guest. Upon presenting the pony to the press, Tom Haverford (played by the hilarious Aziz Ansari) puts a jacket on the pony advertising Tom's own nightclub. He explains: "Most people look at Lil Sebastian and they see a famous mini horse, I see an advertising opportunity for my club...The Snakehole Lounge."

This is a funny little jab from a show full of semi-veiled product references. Ansari's comment, apart from adding to the plot of the episode, is a little in-joke for the attentive watcher. Despite the visibility of brands like Gucci, Nike and Patron, the show isn't below making fun of the system they are undoubtedly a part of.


Enjoy the clip (and attempt to ignore the lewd anatomy joke)

Ready for (product placement) Abduction?

Tomorrow, Katy Perry’s video for “E.T” will “land.” Because I love this song, I have chosen to devote this post to Katy my lady. Though I love her music, I don’t particularly love her since I feel like she’s always talking smack about other artists. Recently, she said that product placement must be done "w/ style & grace...Not so in ur face like some. U hv to get creative w/ it. Some artists don't care tho, & u can tell" (yes that was a direct quote). That comment was obviously aimed at Britney Spears for her blatant product placement in her "Hold It Against Me" video. Remarks like that are not cool in my book, so I set out to investigate Miss Perry's videos to see if she had been "creative" and used "style & grace" when placing products in her videos.

I watched seven of her music videos, looking out for product placement. Without counting product placement in her lyrics, my results were a bit shocking. The product placement in her videos was either minimal or nonexistent! I'm the music product placement expert, and I had to work to find it in her videos. "I Kissed a Girl," "Thinking of You," "California Gurls," "Ur So Gay," and "Waking Up in Vegas" had no visible product placement. By this I mean, there were no logos displayed--there were allusions to Candyland and poker TV shows, but that was about it. "Teenage Dream" had literally TWO products which I had to dig to find--the Ray Bans she wears throughout the video and a BMW logo barely flashed as Katy and her lover drive on the highway. "Hot N Cold" has the most product placement out of all of her videos with advertisements for Diesel, Nokia, and Adidas, and, again, I had to dig. Can you spot them?

And so, after all of my research I must admit that Katy Perry passed the product placement test with flying colors. Congratulations! HOWEVER, you're not off the hook, Katy! Tomorrow I'll be watching the video for "E.T." very closely for product placement... If you watch it, let me know what you think!

supercool

Print media takes many forms, so I’m going to take the liberty of extending its domain to printed tees. In the prime of my middle school career, my wardrobe boasted a collection of printed or graphic shirts, often with a logo as the only embellishment. While tween and teen focused stores often sold a dizzying variety of these shirts with blatant product placement, I’m at a loss for words as to why my friends and I thought it was cool to wear tees emblazoned with the Coke logo or Lucky Charms catchphrase.

What is Mello Yello and why is it on my shirt?

The choice of brands on the tees is especially interesting, because they often included characters from old television shows or movies. Take, for instance, the popular Superman shirts. What does the famous red S stand for? Well, it was originally the symbol for the character in the comic series, which was then turned into a television show and a lucrative movie series. Fast forward to the present -- the Superman theme is currently embodied in the CW’s Smallville (I can’t believe this show is still running...) It’s obvious that the red S on graphic tees is directly related to profitable Superman franchise. With so many Superman products tied into the media industry, it seems that even fashion falls victim to product placement in the media.

An American Psycho

Over the weekend I decided to catch up on some movies that I had been meaning to watch for several weeks now in anticipation of break. Of the two that I actually got around to watching, American Psycho really caught my attention.

For those who have never seen it, it's a pretty ghastly movie. At the same time, the main character's quirks somewhat assuage the intensity and produce a pretty likable movie (at least I liked it).

One of his quirks is his obsession with music. When we first witness Christian Bale (oh yeeeeah, he's the main actor) kill someone, he prefaces the murder with a seemingly random explanation of a Huey Lewis song -- a very in-depth explanation.

He continues this pattern throughout the movie, describing in great detail artists like Phil Collins and Whitney Houston. Just the tone in which he talks about the music gives you the feeling that you're being sold this product.



It could be that I'm simply seeing product placement everywhere, but the way he describes everything is practically an advertisement for the artist's album. This quirk in particular was so peculiar (which is saying a lot about a murderer) that I couldn't help but label it as product placement.

Admittedly, I don't know how many people left this movie thinking, "Gee, I want to get into my inner-killer and play some Huey Lewis before I ax my co-worker tonight."

A Product Inside a Product

In going with the theme of NBC shows that is ever present in my writing, I want to comment on NBC's connection to their show 30 Rock. The whole plot of the show is based in and around NBC's studios and many of the story lines are connected with the company's activities. While this is not really product placement I do find it interesting that almost every episode reinforces the network's image.

I have to wonder whether this is something that factors into viewers opinions of NBC or not. They don't include any of their real-life shows in 30 Rock but they often mention the products of their corporate owners; General Electric. Statistics say that 30 Rock is one of NBC's most successful shows. I can only imagine that there is a slight snowball effect with those people who are drawn to 30 Rock as opposed to NBC's Thursday night programming as a whole. The reinforcement of the networks as an entity and the conglomerate as a whole can only help them.

I am fairly certain that there were no ulterior motives involved when the network planned the show, but I can't help but wonder. They seem to ridicule the establishment as much as they support it but nonetheless they are mentioning it. One could argue that if someone is watching 30 Rock already than they probably already watch NBC shows but I argue that NBC gains from the wider knowledge of the network that comes from the show.