TVSquad

I don't know why this bothers people so much, sure it's a little too much advertising, but it's quick and painless for the most part. This was nothing compared to an episode of The Dead Zone courtesy of Visa, but it was incorporated into the plot just a bit, though that didn't seem to stop the unslaught of complaints. I saw the episode of DAYS in question and it didn't bother me so much, though it was very obvious.

Reply

Blantant??

Reply

Nissan Versa anyone? or Rouge.

Reply

I am a fan of the iPhone, but it is popping up ALL over TV now. Anyone saw Transformers, and how they "defeated" the cop car which was a Ford Mustang IIRC. This is everywhere, but I hope it does not start to distract from the actual show. I did not mind when Nissan presented the first episode of the second season of Heroes, and it was commercial free, and then like 5 minutes of commercials at the end. Yea the Rogue was in the episode, but it was not to distracting, if I am remembering correctly.

Reply

I felt this exact way about the blatant sales pitches in the middle of The Office for Schrute Farms Beets shirts.

Reply

I wouldn't have used the Truman Show as an example of good product placement. It was just as bad as the Days of our Lives. Another bad example was The Biggest Loser and their 100 Calories Snacks. It was more blatant because you had non actors doing the placement. "Hey before we go out let's pack up some Nabisco 100 Calorie Snacks!"

30 Rock was funny the first time with the Snapple bit but when they got to the to Verizon ad it was getting a little old. However if 30 Rock has to do it to stay on the air I'm all for it.

Reply

The worst was on ER a while ago, I remember seeing Computer Associates products like ArcServe and some other IT management software boxes on the counter in the admitting area.

Seriously, does the Cook County hospital do it's backups from a workstation at the ER admitting desk?

Reply

I don't mind the 30 Rock ones because the show is so excellent. And if it helps pay the bills...why not. It is a show about show business after all.

Reply

The reason why we complain, even though it's supposedly short and painless, is because it rips us out of the fantasy and back into the reality of we're watching a tv show. The characters aren't real, they're actors. And then ya' get pissed afterwards and can't get back into the show.

Reply

This is completely ridiculous. So the networks are just supposed to air their shows with zero advertisements? Someone has to pay for the content on television. With so many DVRs ruining the traditional advertisement scheme, something has to change. At least the networks aren't like the music industry; suing everyone that fast forwards commercials. Deal with product placement, it may be the only way for "free" television to survive.

Reply

Passions did the same thing a few months ago with a home pregnancy test. And 7th Heaven had an obnoxious history with Oreos and Campbell Soup.

.....Not that anyone watches Passions or 7th Heaven.....Certainly not me, anyway. Um......

Reply

The best product placement ever was in "Return of the Killer Tomatoes". Halfway through the film, production stops since they ran out of money. Someone suggests product placement, and in the next seen you see someone hold a box of Corn Flakes in front of George Clooney's face while he's speaking.

Reply

As a longtime Days fan here, I feel that if product placement is what it takes to keep the struggling soap to stay on the air, I can take it. One thing growing up that always annoyed me is how shows did everything they could NOT to promote real products (such as heading to eat at "Burger Guy") and seeing a real product show up on a show does add realism because we all see it in our lives.

Reply

"30 Rock should be used as an example. While they have had some pretty blatant product placement this season, it has been incorporated in such as way as to be funny and part of the plot rather than be jarring and senseless."
I may be in the minority, but I don't get that reasoning. 30 Rock was some of the most blatant advertising written into a show that I have seen. Product placement can be part of a joke, but it can get old, quick when it is the joke. I'd rather see billboards in the background, a bus driving by with an ad on the side, a can of a particular brand of soda or the camera pan across a laptop's logo. I'm not saying it can't be written into the script or it should only be background objects, but I just don't understand why 30 Rock was good for what they did(I know I'm not getting my point across, but my brain has shutdown for the year). I do prefer background objects being the ads, but I hate it when any ad distracts from the scene. I was going through the channels the other day and one channel was near the end of the movie "Coach Carter" and one of the kid's headband with an And1 logo was moving depending on which side the camera was on and it was driving me crazy. After the initial jokes, the product placement on 30 Rock was annoying to me. GE, NBC-Universal, Verizon, countless others. I get it. I wonder if they will allow the sponsors to be changed for re-runs if the show ever makes syndication. In my mind, a voice over replacing GE with some other company is funnier than what 30 Rock did. Aren't a few shows like Yes, Dear digitally changing the advertiser on background objects?

Reply

Don't get me wrong, I love "30 Rock" (and will miss it after the last episode that was in the can before the WGA strike airs next month). But I thought that it was a little bit tiresome when they used product placement as a joke the second and third times (Verizon and Bee Movie). If you were just starting to watch the show, well then I could see why you thought it was brilliant, but really the first time it was used (in Season One) with the Snapple was the only time it was funny and not tired.

Reply

They are called "Soap Opera" because Soap companies Sponsored the shows. If ANY TV show was to have blatant Ads it is this type of show.

Reply

Agreed - this drives me NUTS!! 30 Rock handled it well (a la Wayne's World). This made me go straight to YouTube to find this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7thSdlRhuM

I have to agree with "sitruc", though, that this joke will be worn out quickly. It will be interesting to see where advertising moves...Maybe more online as more viewers get their programming via streaming?

Here's my idea: More people would WANT to watch commercials if they were funny & original - more like the programs. Now if only there were an abundance of idle programming writers willing to be paid bigger salaries by large corporations...

Reply

Ah well, I'm off to Burger King. It's a wonderful restaurant!

Reply