Product Placement

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Calleja

Calleja

A few hours ago I was watching I, Robot with a friend of mine and as soon as the infamous "classic converse shoes" scene came on she went on on a tirade about the evils of product placement.

Now, I won't sit here and defend I, Robot. We were only even watching it cause she has a huge crush on Will Smith (tip for the guys: if you take a chick to a movie featuring an actor she has the hots for, it's basically pre-foreplay. Specially if said actor spends a long time showing off his body like Smith here.) but I've always thought product placement was not only "not a big deal", but it's actually BETTER than the alternative "brand x" thing.

Follow me here... this girl kept saying how Will Smith suddenly pimping some Converse detracts from the artistic merit of the movie. Again, I won't say that I, Robot specifically has any artistic value, but I don't really agree with her on that for one sole reason... realism. We, the people in real life outside the screen, are INUNDATED by brands from all angles. That's how the world IS.

She said that it's actually jarring and stops the immersion... I've found quite the opposite to be true. When they showcase cola cans that say "COLA" or, I dunno, they play a "Funtendo Zii", THAT'S what I find jarring and non-immersive. It can be handled well, specially for comedic effects, but it's usually a cheap way to try to avoid "product placement" and it just falls flat.

So when a movie has actual brands on it it actually feels more "real". Hey, that Nokia phone she's using is just like the one my neighbor has! Oh, I saw that car the bad guy is driving on Top Gear!

Am I explaining my point here? A great example: A bit, not much, but a bit of the empathy you feel for Chuck Noland comes from the fact that he works for a company we've all heard about, we've all interacted with, FedEx. It's something we all can relate to and can feel more connected to a guy working for something we know well as opposed to having him work for "StateEx" or whatever. It feels more like it's happening "in this world" and not some parallel universe where everyone drinks "COLA" and shops at "Buy More", y'know? It's the same world we know where people drink Pepsi and wear Nikes.

I know that it also means the brand being placed also gets a nice advertisement spot where everyone can see that, HEY, Will Smith uses Converse!! And I know there are some studio heads and even directors that do sell out and just plaster PEPSI all over the movie for no good reason except money. But that's not really the norm, and it's not even THAT jarring when it does happen. Again, we've all suddenly found ourselves completely surrounded by ads, it happens, it's realistic. But detracting from the artistic merit? I don't think so, really.

What do you guys think, though?
 
MindDetective

MindDetective

My fiancee's not a fan of product placement but I don't mind them, if it is done naturally enough. Mostly for the reasons you've described.
 
Z

Zumbo Prime

tl;dr version: For the most part, I agree. Seeing movies use their own brands in modern times really changes the immersion when I watch movies. A few recognizable brand names here and there do help.
 
R

rabbitgod

I'm with you Calleja.

People don't use 'Product X' they use real products. Like said scene, his character isn't going to use 'X Brand Shoes' with the neat stars on the side. No, he wants Converses. and I've never seen product placement that exceeded real life. I mean really, drive down the street and there's ads everywhere.
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

I've always liked Product Placement in games, when it makes sense. For example, it made a lot of sense to be able to buy Japanese Energy Drinks or visit local store chains in Yakuza because it was supposed to be taking place in a somewhat realistic world. It also made a lot of sense for Aya Brea to be able to find cans of Coca Cola in Parasite Eve 2, as it's EVERYWHERE in America. When Product Placement is handled realistically, it's ether a lot of fun or so subtle that you never notice it.

What ISN'T a good use of Product Placement is when you put up fucking billboards to advertise products blatantly, like in some of the Battlefield games or some racing games. One of the Splinter Cell games had posters advertising brand new America movies in the middle of Africa and on an Oil Rig in the Atlantic. If it detracts from the gameplay, it's gone too far.
 
Charlie Don't Surf

Charlie Don't Surf

My problem with I, Robot was not that he was wearing Converse shoes. It was that he was wearing Vintage/throwback/whatever 2004 (whatever year the movie came out) special edition shoes that went on sale right before the movie came out. It feels annoying when it's super focused on and there are a couple of lines of dialogue about it to draw attention to it. Or like commercial porn shots in movies that would NEVER be there if not for the sponsor bucks.
 
Baerdog

Baerdog

The Lovely Boner said:
My problem with I, Robot was not that he was wearing Converse shoes. It was that he was wearing Vintage/throwback/whatever 2004 (whatever year the movie came out) special edition shoes that went on sale right before the movie came out. It feels annoying when it's super focused on and there are a couple of lines of dialogue about it to draw attention to it. Or like commercial porn shots in movies that would NEVER be there if not for the sponsor bucks.
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This is the distinction I have. I don't mind when real life products appear in media for pretty much the same reasons above. What I don't like is when the characters will specifically call attention to that product, like how Will Smith specifically promotes his shoes or how the characters in White Collar will sometimes go off on a tangent about the latest cool think in a Ford. If I can tell a scene or dialogue was written just to promote a product, that's what breaks immersion for me.
 
Calleja

Calleja

Hmm.. well, yeah, if they break out and have an informecial moment that'd be jarring as fuck. I didn't find it as offensive on I, robot (not that part, at least) because I've done exactly what he has, being all excited about something I just bought and showing it off. I think we all have, so why can't the character?

But just plain stopping everything and talking about the exciting new features on the Ford does sound iffy. Never watch white collar, check.
 
S

Soliloquy

Yeah, I was annoyed at the I, Robot converse thing, too.

Did anyone else roll their eyes at the Motorola Razrs in Born Ultimatum? Because I seriously doubt that a secret government agency would even think of using a Razr.
 
P

Philosopher B.

Yeah, when I watched I, Robot, I didn't really think about it, but watching the clip on YouTube, that one line about Converse was pretty damned blatent, though it didn't really bug me at the time. That stuff really drives my brother crazy, though.

The Mountain Dew transformer annoyed me, though.
 
Calleja

Calleja

I wouldn't MARRY her, but she's one attractive woman, hell yeah. I'd date her for a few months and then sensibly break up with her cause "her music is just too stupid". But it'd be a fun few months!

edit: ooh ooh! and then, when she's on the rebound, you can swoop in and seduce her and eventually get to marry you, Charles. Win-win!
 
ElJuski

ElJuski

Staff member
You guys wanna see product placement? Watch Josie and the Pussycats. Brilliant movie.

Also fuck yeah Avril Lavigne.

---------- Post added at 05:30 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:27 AM ----------

 
Calleja

Calleja

...why are Seth Green, Turk and that guy from Road Trip doing......... well, THAT!?

make it stop!!

---------- Post added at 12:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:07 AM ----------

Oh my god!! And Nightcrawler is their manager!! The horror!!

When bad things happen to good actors.
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

I agree with the people who say natural product placement is fine, but not when the film deliberately calls attention to the product. The Nokia conversation in Transformers annoyed me.

Also, Avril Lavigne = do want.
 
Silver Jelly

Silver Jelly

I'm a big defender of non-intrusive product placement. The shoes example in I robot is a little too much, and sometimes, when it's so very obvious, it can be distracting... But, in general, I feel like you: real brands add realism to the world on the screen.
 
C

Chibibar

mr_thehun said:
I had a friend... a guy I knew.... some guy in my elementary school wore nothing but nike shit

nike shoes, nike shirt, nike pants, nike watch

the guy whent so far as to have the swoosh shaved into his HEAD.....

ahem...

if you saw a guy like this walking down the street in a move, would it be adding realism?
Click to expand...
heh.. I would go "I hope he get paid for that"

But seriously. I see normal product placement all the time in REAL life. People do talk about their shoes and such. I didn't think the comment about the converse in I, Robot was that distracting.
 
Bubble181

Bubble181

It also depends on the type of movie.
I mean, in a realistic, modern-day movie, obviously there'll be brands. And whether the character is drinking Pepsi or Coke doesn't matter to me, but he'll be drinking one of those anyway, so might as well make it a brand.
In Star Trek, let alone Lord of the Rings, I'd get bloody annoyed if a character were to say "Man ,I do love me some Apple. Apple is cool, right?".
(Note: Star Trek actually did this for a Nokia -_-)
 
fade

fade

Staff member
The problem with I, Robot was that the product placement broke the action of the movie. He actually took time out from the scene to endorse the shoes.

Also, this thread has gone this long without a youtube clip from Return of the Killer Tomatoes?!? And you call yourselves geeks. (Plus I love seeing George Clooney in his finest movie ever.)

 
C

Chibibar

fade: why does it break immersion? They are in the future. I think it is normal that a person want to get "vintage" shoes in that period.

edit: also, it adds to his character. Look at his apartment, he is using all kinds of "older tech" because of his distrust of "AI stuff" (not a spoiler)
 
fade

fade

Staff member
It doesn't break immersion, it breaks action. Like the infamous infodump. The movie essentially pauses for a moment to talk about the shoes, which is why they stand out so much.
 
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