• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, March 12, 2009

Product placement isn't coming! Product placement isn't coming!

 

 

A year ago, the European Union gave the go-ahead for a product placement invasion. But it was left to each country to determine whether to allow it within its borders.

No way in the U.K. was the word Wednesday. The culture secretary put the kibosh on it, in part because of "very serious concerns about blurring the boundaries between advertising and editorial," according to Ad Age.

Reporter Emma Hall wrote that the secretary's position may have been in line with the feelings of British viewers--who "are traditionally suspicious of product placement, often deriding it as a clumsy, unsophisticated commercial tool."

"But," she went on, "the truth is that British TV is riddled with clumsy brand avoidance."

A comment from a top Mindshare executive followed: "When you see people on TV pouring cornflakes and it's a made-up brand, it takes away from the entertainment."

It sounds hyperbolic, but there is some truth. Product placement has begat the need for more product placement.

It has become so prevalent that when a brand-less product is seen in a show--a blank cereal box, for sure--the sheer ludicrousness tends to give the viewer pause. And that can chip away at a show's integrity.

Could a marketer ask for more? Something that benefits them--so much that the U.K. isn't going for it and some U.S. regulators want it banned--may actually give rise to a legitimate argument that it serves a purpose.

Nonetheless, that can be a double-edged sword. If a viewer expects a cereal box to be Cheerios, they in fact may be less likely to notice that it is Cheerios.

It may feel too natural.

A recent example came in an episode of USA's spy drama "Burn Notice." Two characters were seeking entry to a place so secure that keys had no purpose, only an approved handprint would work.

So, the pair pursued a version.

In a cafeteria, they waited for a man to finish eating and then toss his Diet Mountain Dew can in the trash. It was retrieved and then rolled in cellophane--to produce a successful handprint copy.

The scene brought Diet Dew some exposure (one of the top product placements of the week, according to measurement firm iTVX). There were several camera shots of the green can (that came from the can, as it were).

And moving on, one character facetiously asked the other if he wanted a sip. "He left a little," she said--adding with faux enticement: "It's Diet Mountain Dew..."

It was pretty standard fare for product placement, some close-ups and an audio mention where producers went out of their way not to stretch credulity.

And therein was a potential issue for the Dew marketing team. Spending any more than the cost of a 24-pack may have been close to futile.

The integration felt almost too natural. And when things feel like they belong, they don't get (burn-)noticed nearly as much.

Product	Show	Q-Ratio
Lacoste	Independent Spirit Awards	3.1717
Green Giant Valley Fresh	The Biggest Loser	3.0344
People Magazine	True Beauty	2.3787
Ziploc	The Biggest Loser	1.2030
Diet Mountain Dew	Burn Notice	0.4663

 

Click here to view these placements.Data and analysis provided by iTVX.