http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_placement So I just watched the first episode of US TV show Chuck... At least I think it was supossed to be a TV show, it seemed to me to be more like an hour long commericial for Chuck Taylor Converse All-Star shoes. Wow, I thought Series 2+ of Doctor Who was bad enough for this, but Jesus, thus show takes the cake Don't get me wrong, I've nothing against the shoes, I actually really like them (thanks to Doctor Who actually ) and have a couple of pairs myself. And since I've started wearing them I've noticed in a HELL of a lot of shows and movies charatcers wear them, but in Chuck it's so over the top. I mean the name of the show pretty much sums it up. There were tonnes of loving closeup shots of his trainers, which make I, Robot's use seem pratically subtle in comparison As I say I've only seen one episode thus far, and actually I wasn't overly impressed so I don't think I'm gonna continue. It started out okay, and I liked the main charatcer (bit like a poor mans Jim Halpert) but once all the CIA crazy stuff started going on it just became pretty ludicrous IMO. I thought the Yvonne Strahovsky character was supposed to be a secret agent, not the love child of a Terminator and a Slayer Anyway, thats my rant. Thoughts?
See, you're part of the reason why shows have product placement: it works as an advertising venue. Ranter, heal thyself.
Product placement is quickly becoming the Bane of American Television. BTW: that picture of Faith is hot.
I can't say I even noticed it... But I did notice the way the emphasises the Toyota, to the point that they even have the logo in the title sequence.
Product placement can save production costs, like a certain automobile manufacturer supplying all the vehicles. It's when there's a lingering shot on the product name for no reason whatsoever (like James Bond's cell phone and GPS) that can get annoying. Sometimes a character just drinking a Pepsi is less distracting than if he were drinking Comet Cola Lite or something.
I'm guessing you haven't been watching Smallville? The one hour Stride gum commerical they had as an episode recently was painfully annoying.
I believe that's what the new European product placement rules are pretty much going to say. If it's natural and doesn't distract, then it's allowed. If it's forced and interrupts the flow, it's not allowed.
I didn't even notice it in Chuck. BTW Chuck isn't supposed to be a realistic show. It's supposed to be fun.
I didn't think it was "bad" per se, just that I can't really be bothered watching the rest of the series
Yeah, I thought "Chuck" was supposed to be like a 'spoof' show. Also, isn't Todd Anthony/Anthony Todd (geez, and I've met the guy twice, please don't tell him I screwed up his name...) the CIA handler on the Chick? (Anthony Todd was Kurn, Worf's brother in ST-verse.)
You are correct! Basically, networks need as many banners, sponsored tags, billboards, crawls, promos, product placement deals and any other form of ad sponsorship they can get. More = better, right?
They did it with the new Knight Rider TV-movie too (Hey, NBC ... there ARE other car companies besides Ford out there! )
The increase in product placement in-show is the advertisers' and networks' response to the rise of TiVo, downloads, and other methods that let people skip over commercials. Ad revenues are what pay for the making of the shows, so they have to try to get the ads before viewers' eyes somehow. In a way, we're actually going back to the way things were in the early days of broadcasting. In old live TV and radio shows, the products that sponsored the shows were sometimes worked into the shows' plots. For instance, there was a Popeye radio series where the source of Popeye's strength was changed from spinach to the specific food product that sponsored the show. And I believe Captain Midnight often extolled the virtues of Ovaltine to his young listeners. And then there was Fibber McGee and Molly, where announcer Harlowe Wilcox was a character in the show, friend and neighbor to the rest of the cast; every time he'd come into the room, he'd manage to divert the conversation to the subject of Johnson Wax, much to the dismay of the McGees. I've read that NBC is even going back to the old approach of allowing one company to sponsor/underwrite an entire show, maybe even to the extent of putting its name in the credits. This happened a lot in the old days, sometimes to the point that the title of the show revealed nothing about its content, only its sponsor. The supernatural TV series that was syndicated as One Step Beyond was originally called Alcoa Presents, and Jack Benny's radio show was originally called The Jell-O Program.