Comments

YES more Grand Centario will probably be sold. The real story is that the NYTimes is the ULTIMATE sell out - Jason Blair perversity - no one seriously believes anything in the fishwrap Times - especially lately with their Christian and Catholic front page ridicule.

Posted by Brad at April 24, 2005 7:56 AM

Actually, product placement has never bothered me. I'm often amazed that so many generic products pop up in TV, etc. I don't see any big deal about having them mentioned.

Joel

Posted by Joel Heffner at April 24, 2005 10:13 AM

I think the problem is the marketing departments have more money than they know what to do with !

Posted by Vel at April 24, 2005 10:31 AM

Don't know if more tequila will be sold-- but I certainly find this practice extremely annoying. The king of this is Steven Spielberg, who is a whore for product placement. His recent film "The Terminal" was essentially a long series of commercials with a bit of story interspersed. I often wondered if the story was just an excuse to plug Sbarro, Starbucks, United Airlines, Barnes & Noble, etc...

But I suppose this works (from the standpoint of naked greed, anyway).

Dont know if it works for the advertisers, but it certainly works for the likes of Speilberg.... who can assure himself a profitable movie before a single ticket is sold.

That makes him a good businessman, but a dreadful "artist"..... Though even he refrains from this dreadful practice in his conscious attempts at serious themes: ie. "Schindler's List". Would that movie have been respected if most scenes had a shot of a Pepsi bottle or retro BMW logo?

....

Posted by AJ Hoge at April 24, 2005 10:47 AM

I'm sure if we looked long and hard enough some marketing department would provide stellar statistics regarding the positive impact of product placement.

For myself, product placement tends to disrupt the energy and purpose of the PLAY! I go to the theater to escape the real and have a transforming experience, whether the laughter of a comedy or the tension and horror of a tragedy. Product placements in that context tend to distract me and in a sense "take me out of" the theater. They pierce the veil and disrupt the magic of the moment.

Sell more product? Quite the contrary. I have reached a point where I actively avoid products that advertise to me inappropriately. I have no interest in rewarding disruptive (and sometimes plain stupid) behavior.

I can understand the value to the producer of the musical. Product placement gets them that little bit closer to profit. We cannot deny that commercialism has always been a part of theater. At some point, however, the producer crosses the line and loses the audience in the pursuit of profit. It's a fine line. Maybe they have stayed on the right side this time around. I don't know, I haven't seen the production.

Just know that product placement issues will come up in more and more theater reviews in the years to come and eventually a show will close because they got carried away with placement and lost their reviewer and their audience in the process.

It will be interesting to watch.

BT

Posted by BT Hathaway at April 24, 2005 11:03 AM

The NYT may scream and yell, but any growth in sales of Grand Centario will probably be a result of the article in the paper not the ad in the show.

Like Paris Hilton, buzz is buzz, be it good or bad.

Andrew

Posted by Andrew at April 24, 2005 12:32 PM

I find product placement in theatres unfortunate, but not surprising.

What concerns me most is how this might affect the financial viability of future productions. If we look at how sponsorship has played out in athletics teams have become dependent on a certain threshold of corporate sponsorship and advertising.

If this becomes the case for Broadway shows, we may reach a point where shows are only viable productions if they can get enough product placement dollars. Then art would have become completely about commerce, and we will have lost a great deal.

Posted by Jeffrey at April 24, 2005 3:56 PM

Steve - seems like New Yorkers have never been known for their good taste. Broadway theatre is adjacent to Times Square with its massive free enterprise themes 24/7. I love NY though.

Seems like the theatre customer will vote with their feet and dollars - too much Coke and Grand Centario in the dialog - and the only customer left to perk up to tequila will be Ted Kennedy - the rest will go to shows with real savoir faire.

Posted by Sean at April 24, 2005 5:09 PM

No awareness will not drive sales.

Product placement is to enable consumer to have an experience with the brand, an emotional experience, a feeling through the direct usage of the product.

In this case, a play provides an intimate setting so perhaps there is the oppotunity to anchor in a joyful memory and intimate occasion with the tequila. In this case, there may be an emotional and creative kinesthetic available that isn't available with an OOH or print campaign. If done properly, a play can provide an adult campaign the community and closeness that so much of the technology world can't. But - the playhouse must serve it to make this happen and the tequila company must produce a campaign around intimacy, community and closeness; they can't just throw their name in a play. Otherwise it's crass and cheap and looking for awarness ... and who cares?

Posted by Wendy at April 25, 2005 12:35 AM

Inspired marketing tactic in an unexploited area by Grand Centario. Product placement if done in a relevant and tasteful way - the ultimate being BMW 'The Hire' short films - can be an extremely effective brand building tool.

Posted by PSR at April 25, 2005 1:49 AM

Sean - how do I get in touch with you my freind?

e mail me at trevor_930@hotmail.com

Warm regards

Trevor

Posted by Trevor Gay at April 25, 2005 7:41 AM

There is nothing new here.

A similar debate happened about panto in the UK over xmas (Now admittedly pantomime is not exactly high brow!). Then a journalist started looking at product placement in the Early 1900s. It turns out it was even more blatant than today – plot lines being changed to include product placements left right and centre.

So yes, it’s incredibly irritating but it terms of a “new development” we are out by at least a century!

Although modern technology make things more efficient for the most part the basic ideas don’t change that much…..

Posted by PaulH at April 25, 2005 8:52 AM

Leave it to a guy to think of this: I wonder how sales of Coors beer changed as a result of "Smokey And The Bandit"?

And Brad - I love you man.

Posted by Ron at April 25, 2005 12:41 PM

I'll be back to comment later. I have this overpowering urge to go have a double shot of Grand Centario. BRB.

Posted by Doc at April 25, 2005 4:29 PM

You have no idea what the revenue generated from movie placement is! It is astronomical!

Will the sell more from the play? It depends on the likeability of the character consuming it. sample viagra free

Next question - have they (Grand Centario) gotten additional mileage out of their placement? Let's see...NYT article, nationally recognized blog...

If I owned the tequila company, I would have done it. It's caused people to talk...which, assuming it's a decent product, will cause people to buy.

Purists will hate that advertising is invading their plays. Those of us seeking out new ways to get our clients product seen (and ultimately bought) are loving it!

Posted by Tony May / Mayday Media at April 26, 2005 2:58 PM

This is going to continue and, ultimately, as with other forms of advertising, it works best when it's relevant to the consumer. From the description by the NYT, I'd say it's a little forced in this instance. Spielberg's "Terminal" was not forced. He's recreating an environment that is more relevant and realistic because of the brands that are included - a natural opportunity to sell placement.

Posted by Dan at April 26, 2005 3:31 PM

I suppose one question that might be asked is if product placement could be shown to be effective would we have a greater aversion to it that if it was shown to be ineffective. Is it alright as long as it isn't working?

Posted by Chris K at April 26, 2005 11:42 PM

Re BT Hathaway comment above:
problem is - when we say we specifically avoid products on account of intrusive advertising, advertisers may nethertheless present that as a success to their client - increased recognition, indelible awareness etc etc.

Posted by Michael from UK at April 27, 2005 10:36 AM

Interesting one this. When I did the marketing module in the second year of my degree course, product placement in movies was highlighted as being a way of highlighting product awareness.

The product being promoted was a plasma screen television, but my lecturer wrote the words 'A fanciful idea' on the printouts of my presentation slides.

buy viagra cheap usa An interesting observation given the amount of hardware from Phillips, Sony and Panasonic that appears in Hollywood movies.

Still, it could explain why that lecturer was lecturing rather than actively promoting real products...

Cheers

Keith

Posted by Keith Rickaby at April 28, 2005 3:47 AM

Oh, and I almost forgot about this one.

How about the almost movie length advert for Fed Ex in the Tom Hanks movie Cast Away?

Cheers again

Keith

Posted by Keith Rickaby at April 28, 2005 3:49 AM

Keith - Fed Ex must not have gotten the contract to ship Coors beer from Texarkana to Atlanta and it went to Bandit and Snowman instead. They must have said that they couldn't do it by truck in 28 hours.

Posted by Ron at April 28, 2005 1:22 PM

When I started my degree course back in 1994, I was given the opportunity to write for a climbing magazine over here. I had to get some last minute copy to them and they wanted it on disk.

As there was a postal strike taking place in Scotland at the time, I rang DHL up to get the envelope delivered by courier. It couldn't be done for the time of day it was required for the part of the Scotland that the office was in at the time.

I then rang TNT up and they not only picked the envelope up from me in the street outside my university lecture building at the time they said they would, but also delivered it on time.

Guess which company got the rest of my courier business for the next six years...

Now using UPS by the way - it's the preferred courier of that self-same climbing magazine's current owners and I for one don't have any problems at all with the service that's provided by them. Or that their vans are covneniently in one or more Hollywood movies...

Cheers from this side of the pond once more

Keith

Posted by Keith Rickaby at April 29, 2005 6:54 AM

It's not so much the concept of product placement that is a concern, it's the sell-out of the producers to change the line from Scotch to tequila. Puts a different spin on the characterization. Maybe we need to give Broadway some lessons in branding and segmentation!

Posted by Toby at May 6, 2005 8:11 PM