When Product Placement Goes Bad
Think about the movies you saw that you’ve seen in the past. Okay so think about Spiderman, Austin Powers, and James Bond for examples, what do they have in common?
Time’s up.
Did you know that these movies made millions of dollars even before they were ever released? How you ask? It’s called product placement. It’s when a company pays Hollywood to include their product in a movie. Companies do it all the time! James Bond introduced us to the BMW Z3 Roadster in Goldeneye (there was a huge uprising from the Austin Martin lovers at the time), Spiderman almost got trampled on by a Terminix truck, and let’s not forget the Mini Cooper in Austin Powers Goldmember. Wonder what it cost them to do this? Well, just to give you an idea, Burger King spent $15 million in MIB II just to get their products featured on the screen.
Sometimes it’s obvious, and sometimes it’s subtle, and then other times (as in a recent Wayne’s World rerun I saw on TV lately) they make fun of the fact they’re doing it. Ever seen a floating blur over people on reality shows? I assume that’d be about as opposite as you can get of product placement.
But what happens when product placement goes wrong? I got a good laugh out of a recent Yahoo news article entitled “Heroes” Lawsuit Down the Drain” where Disposal maker Emerson filed a federal lawsuit Monday (Oct 2) against NBC to prevent the network from re-airing the pilot episode of the new drama Heroes, which featured one of the title characters demonstrating her superhuman healing prowess by sticking her hand down the drain. The drain featured the company’s In-Sink-Erator product in clear view and according to the lawsuit’s claim “casts the disposer in an unsavory light, irreparably tarnishing the product” by suggesting that the appliance “will cause debilitating and severe injuries, including the loss of fingers, in the event consumers were to accidentally insert their hand into one.”
Oops, better edit that footage.