Serena Kiss, Staff Editor
Product placement is one of the most forced things to have ever hit cinema screens; so forced, in fact, that it can override the acting, plot, and setting of the film. When watching a movie, it is distracting when the camera suddenly focuses on the Coke that the actor is drinking. Suddenly, viewers find like me themselves thinking about how much money Coke paid the producers to include the crisp, perfectly-lit shot of the Coke can in their film. Of course, this is defined as bad product placement. Product placement can go almost completely under a viewer’s radar, but it has to be done correctly.
The first time product placement stuck out and slapped me in the face was when I was watching Transformers. Filled with sleek, tough-looking cars, it is no coincidence that every vehicle in the movie is made by Chevy. Every time there is a close-up on each Decepticon or Autobot, the Chevy logo is proudly displayed while their engines rev.
Although this product placement is quite obvious, it fits because the viewer expects it in an action-packed movie that is essentially centered on the cars themselves. However, it does degrade the movie’s credibility in the sense that poor product placement is frowned upon. When going out for a movie, the viewer has high expectations of a box office favorite. In Transformers, the quality of the plot was minimized by the excessive Chevy advertising.
In Castaway, a movie about a man, played by Tom Hanks, who survives a tragic plane crash and finds himself abandoned on a deserted island for years, FedEx is advertised. This method works, however, because the airplane that crashed carried FedEx packages around the world.
Along with the placement of FedEx packages and planes before the crash, the stranded employee finds multiple FedEx packages washed up on shore and utilizes the contents. Therefore, FedEx products are continuously placed throughout the film. The viewer is well aware of the fact that FedEx paid a large advertising fee to have that much product placement, but the placement does fit.
In Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, the product placement is clearly White Castle burgers. The whole movie is centered on Harold and Kumar embarking on an adventure to White Castle. Although completely obvious, the movie is so hilarious that the product placement is forgotten.
Sometimes the smack-in-your-face product placement takes a turn for the worse.
Although many people love the movie I, Robot there is no doubt that the advertisement for Converse shoes was overkill. The up-close, awkwardly long shot of Will Smith tying his Converse shoes was no mistake. The shoes also had nothing to do with the plot; sure, Smith’s character had a contrarian view to the rest of the futuristic characters in the film, but the shoes were blatantly an overdone advertisement.
Transporter 2 was essentially a long Audi commercial. The main character, an ex-Special Forces agent named Frank Martin (Jason Statham), drives an Audi A8 W12 while he carries his “goods” from point A to point B. Yes, the viewer expects an action-packed movie with awesome cars, but focusing in on one car throughout the whole movie is a bit much. Unfortunately, the sleek, fast Audi was advertised to the point that it took away from the film itself.
When watching movies, it is hard to ignore product placement. That is why it should be done well, to avoid overkill. While watching a movie, if you find yourself paying more attention to a certain brand of car or clothing than the plot itself, you have officially found the product of poor advertising.
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