Product placement/integration.

After our discussion last week in class about production placement and integration in television and movies, I started to realize that this is not a new tactic for studios. While they may be getting more crafty and clever with subtlety of product placement, it still has been around for years.

I am a HUGE Lucille Ball fan. I have watched "I Love Lucy" since I was tiny and have almost all the episodes either taped on a VHS from Nick-at-Nite reruns or on DVD that I legitimately bought. "I Love Lucy" is a prime example of how product placement has been around for centuries. Phillip Morris , the cigarette company, was one of the biggest sponsors for "I Love Lucy" in the early 1950's. In several episodes, Lucy and Ricky often have packs of Phillip Morris cigarettes lying around their apartment. They also refer to the brand within episodes. Another big sponsor for the show was Macy's department store. Lucy and Ethel frequently mention Macy's when talking about their many shopping trips. Often times, Lucy and Ricky (Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz) would do commercials for Phillip Morris that would air during breaks of "I Love Lucy".

Another television show that uses product placement heavily is "One Tree Hill". Yes, I know. I shouldn't admit that I watch "One Tree Hill" but for the purposes of this blog, I will swallow my pride. I know in previous seasons, Sunkist was a major sponsor for the show. There were several Sunkist soda machines scattered around their high school (way more than seemed necessary), the main characters often times would wear Sunkist t-shirts, and Sunkist was also a sponsor for some of the concerts the characters attended on the show. Needless to say, there was a lot of Sunkist to go round for that tiny little town they lived in.

My point is that while advertisers and tv producers alike are using product placement in new and sneakier ways, it is not anything new to television. I think if anything, it is more subliminal now that ever before. Brand names and logos are placed within scenes but not mentioned by the characters, so the viewer gets the message without realizing it. It is the perfect way to advertise to tv viewers without the backlash from audiences feeling "over-stimulated" or having a product shoved in their face. It's pretty genius, albeit irritating.