The highs and all-time lows of product placement

                Each of us who have seen ET remember the classic scene where Elliot uses his Reese’s Pieces to befriend his extraterrestrial visitor. Since that moment in film history, product placement has rapidly expanded and embedded itself into today’s movies and entertainment media. This corporate tactic ranges from subtle to painfully obvious, from clever to completely distracting. 

                Of course, it is helpful for today’s movie makers, as they get to expand their budget in exchange for sharing some screen-time with a few brand images. It is also a great option for companies as well, since movie audiences potentially number well into the tens of millions, generating huge numbers of brand exposures in the audience. 

                There are some excellent forms of product placement in movies. Some choose to hang a lampshade on it so that the audience is well aware of what is going on and make a joke out of it. The fantastic example of this comes from Wayne’s World when the characters argue against selling out while simultaneously being extremely obvious in their endorsements for the products they are using.

Another example of an interesting use of product placement comes from the movie Fight Club, where companies such as BMW are used to communicate the anti-consumerism sentiment. In fact, much of the movie deals with this type of thinking, as none of the companies are portrayed in a positive light. To quote the narrator, “When deep space exploration ramps up, it'll be the corporations that name everything, the IBM Stellar Sphere, the Microsoft Galaxy, Planet Starbucks.“ And according to the director himself, there is a Starbucks cup in every scene of the movie in one form or another. It is very interesting to me, because the products are actually part of the movie's message.

However, product placement also exists at the opposite end of the spectrum, where the audience is assaulted with a constant stream of corporate images. The most egregious examples come from Michael Bay’s Transformer movies, which have been record-braking in their use of product placement. In the clip, we can clearly see the contrast between the different approaches to product placement. 

Personally, I think all product placement should be less subversive. The audience is watching the movie for a few hours of entertainment. For their money, they should be free of the assault of brands and products, or at least be made aware that they are being that they are being sold something.