10 Embarrassing Product Placements
We've already gone over why we agree with angel investor Ron Conway when he says product placements on the Web are a multibillion dollar opportunity. But here's what critically acclaimed film director David Lynch says about product placements: "Bullshit. That's how I feel. Total fucking bullshit."
He's just as right as Conway. The trick for Web video producers -- think startups Revision3, NextNewNetworks or old media companies moving to the Web -- is to find a way to earn some of Conway's billions while not alienating the viewers Lynch speaks for. It won't be easy, but we're here to help.
Let's start with what not to do. Below, ten awkward product placement examples from film, TV and the Web not to follow -- and why. (Look for ten good examples to follow next week.)
Casino Royale -- What makes it particularly bad is how Eva Green pauses before asking "Rolex?"
Men In Black II -- eBay isn't for Web search. Make sure the character uses the product the way its used in real life.
The Deer Hunter -- Don't match your brand with the guy who creeps everybody out.
The Thomas Crown Affair -- Why is she chugging a Pepsi One right now? Oh, because Pepsi is paying her to. Don't spotlight the product with bizarre behavior.
The Matrix Reloaded -- Not every car on the road is a GM. Mix in some generics with the advertiser's brand.
I,Robot -- We imagine the script for this scene looks like this: [Screaching breaks] Character raises product into frame, says product name. [Plot continues] Do not ask your actors to unnaturally contort their bodies to put the product in the frame.
"LonelyGirl15" -- Give the LonelyGirl15 creators credit for figuring out the product placement model on the Web. But did they have to introduce the product by saying: "What is that?"
"America's Next Top Model" -- Tyra's show makes bank on product placements, but when contestants are talking to the camera is not the time to force another pitch. Tyra should stick to brand integrations like the Covergirl photo shoot at the end of every cycle.
The Island -- We don't begrudge Michael Bay's efforts to pay for his expensive explosions with product placements, and one of these featured here would be OK. But trying to fit them all into one feature-length film is too distracting for viewers. Be careful plugging more than one product per episode.
Runaway Bride -- Don't ruin the emotional climax of your story -- even it's a cooking show -- with a big product billboard and a slogan.
None of the videos show up in the RSS feed (there’s a vimeo message saying that embedding has been disabled).
The goal of the product placement is to standout enough to be worth the investment by the advertiser, but also placed in the story so it doesn't seem like a commercial. In all of your examples, with the exception of the Pepsi One version, the product is part of the story.
Please don't become ValleyWag.
Thank you.
"Oh my god, Dad, you got me a Rogue!" - Claire, sometime in season 2.
Oh my god, worst product placement EVAR.
On the plus side it forced me to click through to read the story.
Lou: You gonna order something, kid?
Marty McFly: Ah, yeah... Give me - Give me a Tab.
Lou: Tab? I can't give you a tab unless you order something.
Marty McFly: All right, give me a Pepsi Free.
Lou: You want a Pepsi, PAL, you're gonna pay for it.
I still cringe when remembering an episode of the OC in which a character casually says "I totally A9.com-ed it last night."
I'd argue that the Matrix was fine planting GM cars on the road (I didn't really notice, but I'm not a car guy). And The Island has no artistic pretensions -- it's an unauthorized ripoff of Parts: The Clonus Horror, a movie so bad it landed on Mystery Science Theater 3000 -- so I don't give a damn how many product placements they want. The big-budget action genre is so money-oriented to begin with that it's hardly surprising to see the story laced with ads. Same with reality shows -- who watches "Next Top Model" expecting one minute of ad-free content?
But you're dead on about the rest. And David Lynch, that bastardly curmudgeon, has earned his right to set standards for his work. Michael Bay can product-place all he wants, but he can also go blow himself. There's a good reason you don't catch Woody Allen chugging a Pepsi and playing Guitar Hero.
If web video ever wants to graduate to real art and not be mocked as "crotch shots and kitten fights," some artists will have to set standards. And that means not ruining your story to shill.
I do hope we make the top 10 best with our brand integration of Neutrogena into lonelygirl15. We created a puzzle for our community to find a scientist working at Neutrogena. He eventually became a recurring character in the show. To this day, Spencer Gilman, the fictional Neutrogena scientist, is a favorite character amongst our community. Also, we didn't show a single product or talk about any product messaging.
My company produces and distributes original series and custom videos for major brands. We've been in doing it now for two years.
We have a few rules. As the Executive Producer, I can and do turn away some business. If it doesn't make sense for the audience and/or we don't believe the product tie, we don't do it. PERIOD.
We make sure that each segment can stand alone.
We produce broadcast quality segments but we recognize the budgets are different so we act accordingly. It can be done. It is profitable and the business is growing especially in these tight economic times.
Patricia - I agree with you about the smaller producers getting squeezed by the system. My company is actually trying to level the playing field by creating an open marketplace for placement in online video. We've got an interesting model that reduces the transactional costs and risk of big advertisers getting involved with smaller producers. And at the same time, our producers can control their own destiny by getting paid on a CPM basis (rather than the arbitrary and binary payouts that are being pushed by contest models). And we only take a 20% cut, which leaves 80% of the budget for the creatives.
Jim L - I'm not sure I agree with you that the "goal of product placement" is to be blatant enough to justify the investment by the advertiser. There's some interesting research by Psychology and Marketing that indicates that even the most subtle and unregistered product placement moves the needle. Based on some of this research, I advise our clients that the prominence of product placement should depend on the type of product they are selling: For low-cost, impulse buys (i.e. CPG), the more subtle the better; for high-dollar purchases that require research and consideration (i.e. high-cost durables), the placement should be prominent enough to register and mentally stick on a conscious level.
Shay - If you're interested in becoming a producer, I hope you check us out!
"We'll need plenty of cognac. The best. (Pause) Hennessy." (Cut to bottle of Hennessy at Nazi shindig)
And "The Net"?
"Oh, yay, you brought my favorite candy... Almond Roca!"
If you know the movie, it makes perfect sense for them to be drinking RR, its exactly what the blue-collar steel mill workers would drink.
There is also a bunch of KFC boxes in another scene, but I seriously doubt that it was paid placement, it was just set design to make things appear authentic.
The product placement for Las Vegas itself is wonderfully subtle, of course...
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