• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, December 5, 2006

Decades before "The Daily Show," "Saturday Night Live" was the pacesetter for satire and sarcasm on TV. So in a neat twist, NBC's two fall shows--inspired by behind-the-scenes life at "SNL"--have offered a sardonic take on product placement.

It's often said that a celebrity or trend is official when "SNL" mocks it. If there was any doubt that product placement has arrived, its send-up on the two "SNL" takeoffs confirms its status.

Perhaps the sardonic take on product placement gives both freshman shows--the drama "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and comedy "30 Rock"--added realism. But there is also the double-edged sword factor: If awareness is raised, does it impair the effectiveness of product placement?

After all, it's said to work best when a brand is "naturally" and "organically" integrated into the content, perhaps delivering a message in subliminal fashion.

Regardless of the broader implications of the NBC shows' spoofs, the integration of "product integration" had to bring smiles to the faces of sales executives, if not viewers.

Although it's a drama, the "Studio 60" version was highly amusing. In the Nov. 20 episode, NBC's entertainment chief, played by Amanda Peet, tries to convince the two creative minds behind the sketch show (played by Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford) that "product integration" can bring in added revenue. She calls it "the big prize."

Her proposal is to have the house band use Gibson Guitars (electrics made famous by Les Paul, also used by B.B. King). And, like any good sales executive/branded-integration executer, she's not content just to let the audience observe the products in action.

Peet's character wants to plug its inclusion, and suggests placing Gibson signage on the set and voiceovers running into commercial breaks. (The integration of the Gibson brand was one of the top-ranked product placements of the week, according to measurement firm iTVX.)

Playing off the real-life debate raging between sales and creative staffs, the two show-runners have nothing but disdain for Peet's plan. As in real-life Hollywood, they're sure product placement would contaminate their show--especially if it's overkill.

"Seems to me whatever ad revenue we get from Gibson would be squandered on our electric bill if we've got 14 guys on guitars," says Danny (Whitford).

The sales versus creative side debate about product placement also appeared on the Nov. 16 episode of "30 Rock"--again rife with biting wit. Ironically, it aired only four days after it was a target on "Studio 60."

In that episode, NBC parent General Electric's vice president of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming (Jack Donaghy, played by Alec Baldwin) attempts to persuade the writing staff of the late-night show to "incorporate positive mentions" of GE products into the program.

"You're saying you want us to use the show to sell stuff. ... We're not compromising the integrity of the show," responds the executive producer Liz Lemon (played by Tina Fey).

Donaghy's response is telling--a one-two punch that challenges any real-life philosophical chasm between Burbank and Rockefeller Center: "Get real kids, you write skits mocking our presidents to fill time between car commercials."

Sardonically, Donaghy touts "product integration" as if it's the 30-second spot and it's 1940, using language that might make corporate America look in the mirror and reassess its lingo. "It's revolutionizing the way we monetize broadcast television ... setting a new standard of upward revenue-stream dynamics," he says.

The product-placement ridicule is multi-layered; the writing staff gushes over Diet Snapple in a meeting. (Even Donaghy is a fan.) Then a Snapple mascot emerges from the elevator looking for HR. It looks like he's now an NBC employee--or is it NBC/GE/Universal/Kmart? Which is what Donaghy calls the conglomerate in "30 Rock's" first episode. On the show, Donaghy may even have introduced a new buzzword to branded entertainment: "pos-mens." It's his term for writers slyly inserting product plugs into scripts.

Is that art imitating life?