Quiz time: how many household products could you list in ten seconds that have shown up in TV shows and movies? For many people, the brands featured on popular TV shows are just as iconic as the characters themselves. From snacks to gadgets, clothing to travel destinations, it seems like every product under the sun has been featured onscreen at some point.
As consumers of media we simply can’t ignore the way that advertisers have been slowly (and not-so-subtly) integrating products into television and movies over the years. How many of these product placement campaigns do you remember?
Pre-80’s Product Placement:
- 1919 – The Garage (Red Crown Gas)
- 1949 – It’s a Wonderful Life (National Geographic)
- 1960 – Flintstones (Winston’s Cigarettes, Fruity Pebbles, Midas Muffler)
- 1961 – Mr. Ed (Studebaker Automobiles)
- 1962 – Beverly Hillbillies (Winston’s Cigarettes)
1980 – 1990:
- 1982 – E.T. Promotes Reese’s Pieces
After Elliott coaxes the hungry alien in E.T. out of the shed with a trail of Reese’s Pieces in the 1982 box office hit, the candy’s sales dramatically increased. Not only was this a surprise to the marketers, but it was even more of a surprise to the movie creators who paid Reese’s for the right to use the product. Content creators paying major brands to use their product in content was common practice before the 1980’s.
With the success of E.T.’s product placement, television and movie producers realized the model was backwards, and decided that companies should pay them to put products in movies. This “eureka moment” for media business ushered in a new way of indirectly advertising products and services to the masses. With the success of E.T. and Reese’s Pieces, brand marketers couldn’t deny the guaranteed exposure their products and services get in movies.
E.T.’s Product Placement Success Creates an Industry for Affiliate Marketing
After the success of the E.T. product placement, the entire product placement industry exploded. Many movies immediately integrated various products within the content. Some of the well known 1980’s movies and brands that used product placement include:
- 1984 – Ghostbusters (State Puff Marshmallows, Miller Genuine Draft Beer, Coke and Perrier)
- 1985 – Back to the Future (Pepsi, Nike, DeLorean)
- 1985 – Three Men and A Baby (Pampers – paying $50,000)
- 1987 – Baby Boom (Huggies – paying $100,000)
- 1988 – Tequila Sunrise (Cuervo Gold – paying $150,000)
- 1988 – Mac and Me (Coke revives aliens)
- 1989 – License to Kill (Lark Cigarettes)
With the new affiliate marketing model, directors and producers easily funded their movies if they promised to integrate major brands into their films. The new funding source was something that helped create an abundance of capital for movie producers and directors.
1990 – 2000:
- 1990 – Days of Thunder (Exxon Mobile – paying $300,000)
- 1990 – Internal Affairs (Pepsi)
- 1990 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Dominos Pizza)
- 1992 – Wayne’s World (Pizza Hut, Reebok, Pepsi)
- 1993 – Demolition Man (Taco Bell)
- 1994 – Forrest Gump (Dr. Pepper)
- 1996 – Happy Gilmore (Subway)
- 1997 – Good Will Hunting (Dunkin Donuts)
- 1997 – The Fifth Element (McDonalds)
- 1998 – Pleasantville (Evian Water)
- 1998 – You’ve Got Mail (AOL, Starbucks)
- 1998 – The Truman Show (Ford)
- 1998 – Sex and the City (Absolut Vodka)
- 1999 – For The Love of The Game (V8)
- 1999 – At First Sight (Coke)
- 1999 – Armageddon (BMW, Tag Heuer paying $75,000)
- 1999 – The Thomas Crown Affair (Pepsi)
- 1999 – Bowfinger (Fed Ex)
2000 – Current:
- 2001 – Survivor (Mountain Dew, Doritos)
- 2002 – American Idol (Coke, Ford Focus, Vitamin Water)
- 2002 – NFL Games (Reebok Uniforms)
- 2003 – One Tree Hill (Sunkist)
- 2003 – America’s Next Top Model (L’Oreal, Vogue)
- 2004 – The Biggest Loser (24 Hour Fitness)
- 2004 – The Apprentice (Kodak Printers)
- 2004 – Oprah (Pontiac G6)
- 2005 – The Contender (Everlast Gum)
- 2005 – Arrested Development (Burger King)
- 2006 – Top Chef (Glad)
- 2006 – Kyle XY (Sour Patch Kids)
- 2007 – Smallville (Stride, Dell, Lemon Pledge)
- 2007 – The Office (Staples, Call of Duty, HP, Gateway, Honda, Sandals Resort, Chili’s, etc.)
- 2007 – 30 Rock (Verizon)
- 2007 – Rescue Me (Vitamin Water)
- 2007 – Heroes (Nissan Rogue)
- 2008 – Project Runway (Levi Jeans)
- 2009 – Monk (Sleep Inn)
- 2010 – Vampire Diaries (Bing)
- 2010 – Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” (Virgin Mobile, Plenty of Fish, Diet Coke, Miracle Whip)
As the industry evolved from E.T. days, writers and moviemakers were doing whatever they could to subtly integrate products into the script and make the product be the primary focus of the movie itself. A blatant example of product placement is You’ve Got Mail. Not only blatant for AOL and their e-mail and instant messaging products, but also for Starbucks. Once such example was where Tom Hank’s character was talking about Starbucks, and the complexity of how people order their warm cup of Joe in the morning.
Product Placement Evolves Further Into Television Programming
The new millennium brought on technological changes, and affiliate marketing evolved right along with it, finding its way into reality television and prime time shows. Between reality TV and favorite prime time shows, product placement is cropping up in every corner of the television world.
The hit reality show Survivor is one well known reality shows that featured product placement within their program. The first season location ‘placement’ was $1,000,000, and after that, the second season spot cost jumped to over $12,000,000.
Doritos is known for product placement in season two of Survivor, where the brand was mentioned in over six segments, with the season also showing a clip of survivor participants celebrating over Doritos.
When it comes to prime time drama shows, Desperate Housewives and 7th Heaven take the cake for marketing. The most notable placement for Desperate Housewives was when a GMC Denali was in the show, and of course, Gabi’s famous Juicy pants. As for 7th Heaven making an entire episode about Oreos, and “cookies and milk,” it seemed to go overboard. From sources around the television world, it is known that producers were forced to write and create the episode around Oreo’s, as their first version was too subtle for Oreo.
Product Placement Is Here To Stay and is Growing
With social media marketing blooming, product placement is beginning to take over media and entertainment. As the public continues to be attracted to reality television, social media, and prime time television, major marketers simply can’t ignore this channel to leverage and sell more of their products and services.
While it may be offensive to some, it is definitely here to stay due to the effectiveness of it, and television and movie producers needing funding. As this interesting marketing channel evolves, it will be interesting to see how innovative marketing will become.
