Last summer, I was reviewing an-hour long commercial for Visa for TV Squad. It was slightly more interesting than an infomercial, though. There was this guy named Johnny Smith who could see the future or the past when he touched people, and he always made sure to use his Visa card in sticky situations that would arise from this ability. Oh wait... What's that you say? That wasn't a commercial? That was an actual show? Then why did Johnny Smith make such a big deal of showing off his Visa card REPEATEDLY? Oh, product placement. We love you so. It's not enough that we all got Tivos so we didn't have to watch the commercials that interrupt our favorite shows. Oh no. The sneaky advertisers don't need us to watch the commercials at all anymore. They just stick their products into the shows and let the actors use them. TV Squad. Simple. Inescapable, unless you plan to give up television entirely (and I don't.).
Of course, some products are necessary. Most people eat or drink something during the day, and it would be weird in today's world if television characters didn't have cell phones. TV Squad. But it's a little distracting when you are in the middle of watching a riveting episode of Moonlight, and you are distracted because Hey! There's a picture of Mick on Beth's iPhone! I wish I had an iPhone. Mick has an iPhone too! I wonder who programmed their pictures into the phones -- was it the actors, or some props person? Do you think the actors get to keep those iPhones? Oh wait, somebody just got killed.
So, in honor (not!) of the blatant use of product placement in our favorite shows (those darn Oceanic 815 survivors and their Dharma mayonnaise!), we bring to you The Brought to You by TV Squad Award. What are your nominees for the show who should receive this award, and what product are they pimping? Please nominate your favorites in the comments.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
5-23-2008 @ 2:04PM
Dave said...
American Idol - Coke, Ford, AT&T
Extreme Makeover Home Edition - Sears
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5-23-2008 @ 2:18PM
Scott said...
I can't remember if this was this season or last...
CSI: NY Danny & Hawkes were walking up to a building and Danny's phone rings. Hawkes comments on the ringtone. Danny responds with something like "Oh yeah, it's my new (specific make & model) cell phone on the (blah blah) network)."
Or more recent CSI: NY where they are always using the Cisco Telepresence.
C'mon...when was the last time you used the full manufacturer & product name in casual conversation with someone?
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5-23-2008 @ 2:18PM
Jen said...
30 Rock and Verizon Wireless. "Can we have our money now?"
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5-23-2008 @ 2:23PM
clgbutterfly said...
John Smith's visa stuff was perhaps the most cringe worthy. It was awful when he blatantly used it, but then he made a comment something like, "This Visa quickpass is awesome!" Little puke in the throat at that moment. I would personally make this category about what stations were the most blatant. For last season it would have to be USA/NBC. It is quite apparent they need money for their USA shows and have no problem whoring themselves out to get it. Another fine example of USA is Monk in the two part season finale Monk is handed antibacterial kleenex. You know those freaky ones with the blue dots. So I'd give this to the USA network. "We love pimping products!"
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5-23-2008 @ 2:26PM
Mike K. said...
The most blatant use of product placement this season has to Smallville. The "Hero" espisode should have just had the episode name as "Stride" as they were constantly mentioning gum, and I think Chloe even said their tagline. Horrible. At least 30 Rock makes fun of it.
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5-23-2008 @ 2:49PM
Eric J. said...
"The Glad Family of Products" on Top Chef.
Although the most egregious product placement on Top Chef has to have been Uncle Ben's Minute Rice, simply because it really has no place in the kind of food they're making, and many of the contestants could barely conceal their disgust at having to use it in the Quickfire challenge.
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5-23-2008 @ 3:14PM
Tommy said...
Heroes and Nissan.
Not only we were bombarded by Nissan commercials every break, but Claire got a band new Nissan Rogue and last year Hiro had to rent only the Nissan Versa, and say it 20 times before he got it.
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5-23-2008 @ 6:21PM
nattyff said...
YES!!! at some point i actually though that the rouge was esential to the plot!!! LOL
5-23-2008 @ 3:21PM
JFTA said...
Monk still has a bunch of Lysol products in episodes. I guess it makes sense for the germophobe.
Also, how about 24 and the past few seasons with the car sponsor. Seems like one year it was Toyota and the next was Ford. And of course all the cars being driven or crashed into or blown up were that brand.
I remember that episode of CSI:NY.
And don't forget the "herbal essence" shower on Survivor. Does that count?
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5-23-2008 @ 3:25PM
annacsmith08 said...
One Tree Hill: Sunkist, Kate Voegle, Starburst Thursday Night Concert Series
Lipstick Jungle: Maybelline
and, of course, 30 Rock: Verizon
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5-23-2008 @ 3:56PM
Rico said...
The Office is always pimping Staples as their "competitor".
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5-23-2008 @ 6:55PM
The MediaBlog said...
Going for something recent. I loved this week's CSI: Miami where a shot of a bullet in a glass labwear dish featured a glamour shot of the word "Pyrex" on the side of the dish.
I couldn't help but wonder if Pyrex really thought someone out there would see it and think... You know, that reminds me, I really need to buy some of the quality bullet dishes made by Pyrex.
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5-23-2008 @ 5:15PM
CaptKahunah said...
I cannot believe no one has mentioned "Knight Rider". It was a two hour commercial for the Ford Mustang, and the commercials during the show for Ford also featured KITT and Mike!
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5-23-2008 @ 6:35PM
Bash said...
I totally agree. That was a TWO hour commercial for the car divided into smaller parts by in-your-face commercials for the car.
5-23-2008 @ 9:52PM
ac said...
Smallville and Stride. No other show bases an entire plot around brand name gum.
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5-27-2008 @ 4:18PM
hessian said...
Actually THE LOOP went after product placement with a vengeance in their episode titled "Stride."
From TV.com: When Trans-Alliance takes on "Stride" gum as a new corporate sponsor Sam is smitten by the "Stride" marketing rep. Unfortunately, Sam's desire to land the marketing rep clouds his best judgement when deciding on product placement.
Every seat on the Stride airliner had a Stride logo. The pre-flight speech included several mentions of long lasting Stride gum. Even the window shades had Stride logos on them.
Hilarious.
Still, my vote goes to SMALLVILLE.
5-23-2008 @ 7:35PM
MERVE-THE-PERVE said...
Survivor is always giving away the beauty products in their reward challenges from Target followed by a 30 second ad after they already gave them the plug. But I really love the 30 Rock/Verizon one and Liz's smile at the camera asking if they could have their money now. I wish they could all be that funny and creative.
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5-23-2008 @ 7:41PM
mariewp said...
An episode of Medium from last season has Allison talking about going to see the movie Memoirs of a Geisha, then shows her and hubby at the theater lobby after seeing it and somewhere in there I'm sure she must have said how great it was. Product placements should be quick and not so blatant. Ugly Betty had an episode this season that was pretty much an hour long advertisement for the musical Wicked. Also hated it on Kyle XY when they would talk about Sour Patch Kids. The mom even brought the snack to a beach party and made a point of saying they were Kyle's favorite. Ugh.
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5-23-2008 @ 8:16PM
Liz said...
Project Runway was the worst offender IMO, but not sure cable or reality shows count for this? But even if it doesn't, it should get some sort of honorable mention. Not only did they have the Bluefly Wall, Treseme Hair Salon, etc, they also had a new guest and challenge every week representing another company! It was like an hour long commercial with some sewing thrown in.
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5-23-2008 @ 8:49PM
Imp said...
As much as I love it, "Ugly Betty" has really blatant product placement. Quite annoying. As someone mentioned before, the hour-long "Wicked" ad was facepalm-worthy.
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