I agree with others about how the most awkward product placement are when people pretend brands are much bigger than they actually are, such as people saying Bing It instead of Google It.
Along the same lines the CGI movie Free Birds where’s two turkeys go back in time to the first Thanksgiving to prevent Turkey from being permanently on the menu, the day is saved when they call pizza delivery and a pizza delivery man delivers Chuck E Cheese pizza to the Pilgrims. Because when I think pizza delivery I think of Chuck E Cheese pizza, which wasn’t even a thing prior to COVID I don’t think.
I agree. That show is the first thing that popped into my head. Both with the printer and the coffee cup from a certain donut store that’s featured prominently throughout the episodes. The way the placement is handled is hamfisted and would be lambasted no matter what kind of show it was in. But then the obvious, over-the-top nature of the placement in this kind of show makes it even worse. It’s like they’re announcing “Tonight’s brutal murder is proudly brought to you by HP and Dunkin Donuts!” They also lovingly film his pickup truck as if it’s a commercial for the truck itself. The show itself is pretty well done, but it’s like some corporate drone was in charge of the product placement and had total authority on how it was done.
I think @Asuka was referring to the idea of having pizza delivered from Chuck E Cheese, which I don’t think they’ve ever done. (Full disclosure: I worked at Chuck E Cheese for a summer 38 years ago.)
Watching NFL games, whenever they show the QB on the sidelines looking at defensive schemes on their Microsoft Surface with the shock protection cover I am reminded of the Sabre Tablet in The Office.
Which was a huge problem for the first couple years. Microsoft spent a ton of money sponsoring the NFL and get their tablets front and center, only for the announcers to keep referring to them as iPads.
The terrible romcom flick Bye Bye Love has loads of scenes set at a McDonald’s as well. Within the plot, it’s the meeting point for divorced parents to drop off and pick up their kids. No creepy clown on site, but it was still practically a feature-length commercial, if memory serves.
In one episode of The Office Michael Scott goes on about how Chili’s is a great place for a business lunch, and when they get there he very conspicuously orders an Awesome Blossom™. Now, some people think it was a joke about how clueless Michael is, like how in a different episode he talked about how he discovered some great hole in the wall pizza place which turned out to be a Sbarro. But the Chili’s bit sure felt like product placement to me.
It isn’t just scripted TV shows that Subway subverted. For a few years there you couldn’t watch an episode of Pawn Stars or Counting Cars without feeling like you fell into a Subway ad.
Until now I was totally unaware Chuck E. Cheese delivered at all. Their whole thing was a fun place for the kids and the pizza was mediocre at best. Get the pizza at home and you have to supply your own arcade games – the animatronic shows having been discontinued a while back.
There is something special about gas station food. We had Danny and Clyde’s at our wedding. Our favorite barbecue and fried chicken also come from gas stations.
It’s funny to hear how blatant is the Subway product placement. Years ago, a teeny bopper gymnastics show called Make it or Break it featured a Subway in the background of a gymnastics meet. One gymnast asked another would she like Subway for lunch, and the answer - paraphrased from memory, but it was just this unnatural and awkward - “Sure, get me a cold cut combo. I need the protein and good carbs to get me through my workout.”
I’m watching Hocus Pocus 2 right now and feeling the urge to go to Walgreens and buy skin care.
For us old farts, product placement is actually an improvement. In the 60 and 70s, characters on tv shows would go out of their way to NOT mention a product. “You want a soda?” And often as not it was a Coke or Pepsi with the name (but not the logo) taped over.
Car brands were taped over, even though it was totally obvious what it was. One Adam-12 had the letters M U S T A N G taped over, but the character called it a Mustang anyway.
Beer in the 70s was always this red can that looked like Budweiser but wasn’t. On rare occasions they’d use a blue version.
It used to bug me a lot. So someone eating a Subway sandwich doesn’t bother me, unless they overdo it.
One thing I wonder is whether everything that’s noticeable in a show is necessarily product placement.
I mean, in Big Bang Theory, I recall seeing the same Cuisinart 12 cup coffee maker that I have, and other name-brand products. For example below, “PAM” cooking spray and “Blue Diamond” almonds are visible in the background. I would swear I saw a can/bag of Cafe Bustelo at some point as well.
That doesn’t exactly seem like the kinds of products that would be paying for product placement in a show like Big Bang Theory, so are they just name-brand set dressing, or is it a foregone conclusion that anything identifiable was paid for?
(for zoom, go to the article and click on the picture)
