Product placement: it's a jungle out there

Sarah Homewood
By Sarah Homewood | 1 July 2015
 
Sarah Homewood, AdNews journalist

Sitting down to write this editorial, I am surrounded by the same sights and sounds. People tapping away furiously on keyboards, phones and devices ringing and buzzing left, right and centre. To make a start on the piece I type away on a Dell computer; to dull the noise around me I generally listen to music on my Apple iPhone.

Sometimes I search for inspiration from previous interviews recorded on my Sony dictaphone, I scribble notes with a Bic biro and to also help me through I often make a snack, which consists of anything I can find with Kraft Peanut Butter on top.

That may well be the trade press record for product name dropping in AdNews, but this is exactly the experience viewers were confronted with if they were one of the millions who flocked to see Jurassic World since its release last week.

The movie recently topped the $30 million mark in the Australian box office, so I’m sure when sitting through the film, I wasn’t alone in thinking firstly, why the hell are you wearing white at a Dinosaur Park? Or the next time shit hits the fan I hope I am driving a Mercedes Benz.

Those who sat through the two hours that was dinosaur porn will know that Mercedes Benz was the car sponsor. You know this because every scene where a car could have been used, there was a Mercedes, ripping you out of the fantasy with a real life car brand flashing on screen, which had obviously paid to be there.

While there were other brand sponsors involved in the film and product placement is nothing new, it feels a bit like we may be reaching a saturation point, and for me Jurassic World felt like case and point.

Jurassic World is not even the worst offender currently in cinemas, with the Entourage film featuring a staggering 65 brands in its 104 minutes running time, according to analysis by Interbrand’s Brandchannel.com. With the industry said to be worth more than $6 billion last year in the US, it doesn’t look to be slowing down any time soon.

Obviously there is a benefit to brands getting involved in cinema: not only are viewers prevented from skipping any advertising but they also paid to see the film, and being associated with a great story can add some positivity to a brand.

But what if it’s done wrong and it becomes a bit of a joke? There is even a moment in Jurassic World which goes along the lines of: “Why don’t we just let the corporations name the dinosaurs.” After seeing this car ad, I mean film, that line did seem to be a little too honest. It got me thinking, when do we just let the consumers have their over-priced popcorn and stop trying to sneak ads into their entertainment?

No products paid to be in this editorial. If anyone feels compelled to, you know where to find me.

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