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Loading ...There is an interesting article in the November 3rd Economist about product-advertising - not in the traditional commercial sense but in television programs - and how this method of advertising is changing in the global market.
In American television we have already begun to associate characters with certain brands. We know that Carrie Bradshaw used a Mackintosh computer and that Jerry Seinfeld drove a Saab, drank Snapple, and ate Junior Mints. But no such world exists in most European Union television because product-placement advertising (in most cases) is illegal. If you place a certain product on a TV show in exchange for money you are subject to severe fines, which is why in Europe the revenues for such advertising was only $31 million in 2006 and in the
European television has found subtle ways of skirting the rules. For example, they have cast members dress up in a company’s colors and then drop phrases that the company uses in its advertising. Can you imagine Carrie Bradshaw and friends all dressed up in green and white and one of them whipping her Am-Ex out of her wallet and saying, “I never leave home without it!”
But Europeans are set to revamp their product-advertising in television. The EU has recently changed its mind and the laws regarding this type of advertising. This is an important time to make such changes as the advertising and marketing world is undergoing a dramatic shift due to newer technologies. More and more people, for example, skip the commercials altogether by using TiVo or some other similar technology to record their favorite programs.
My question now is what would most people rather experience? Do you mind an obvious attempt to sell something by way of traditional commercials (that you can turn off if you want) or would you rather have your favorite shows and actors plying wares to you in a more subtle approach? And if trends continue towards product-placement at what point will TV watchers be saturated and feel like the advertising has gone beyond subtle and is down right annoying. I saw another article today stating that pharmaceutical products have made a big entrée into the world of television shows (appearing recently in “Grey’s Anatomy” and “King of Queens.”
I think commercials have gone the way of many outdated modes of advertising and it is time to turn them off for good. But I’m a little nervous about what Propaganda GEM, a company in
Source: Product Placement: In the Picture, The Economist, November 3, 2007
Filed under: Product Placement
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