In a story about product placement that took place on a recent ’30 Rock’ episode, the Hollywood Reporter also includes some interesting observations about ‘The Office’:
… “30 Rock” has made it onto Nielsen’s list of the top 10 shows with product placement only one time since the fall season started. “The Office,” another NBC show known for cutting major integration deals with advertisers in the past but which insists it no longer is involved in any such deals, turned up on the Nielsen top 10 list for four of the first five weeks of the fall season.
Link: ’30 Rock’ rolls ads into story lines
Tipster: Brad
Can’t be bought by the man! Who is this man anyway?
Last line of that article… “Office” tallied…
LOVE IT!
[from tanster: haha, I didn’t even notice that!]
Dunder Mifflin Infinity was like one long product placement for Blackberry. But perhaps since then they stopped making such deals. I hope so.
I noticed that part of ’30 Rock’ where Liz and Jack discuss how great Verizon is for about 5-7 seconds. liz then turns to the camera (blatantly breaking character) and says, “Can we have our money now?”. Then the scene cuts. It was very funny. It was a clear jab at product placement. they did something similar with Snapple over a few episodes last year. ‘The Office’ has been more subtle about it (which is their choice). It was funnier in ’30 Rock’ though.
Where will we host the Dundies if there is no Chili’s?
Just a thought.
I thought about crafting some soliloquy but all my thoughts boiled down to this. is. fantastic.
Addendum: for product placement done right see Arrested Developement’s “Motherboy XXX.”
Product placements on “The Office” don’t bother me at all, and I’m FROM Scranton, so I KNOW there is no Chili’s or Benihana. I think it adds a realistic touch, like the Yankee swap with the iPod. It wouldn’t have been as funny if they were all jockeying for a… Prism Durosport!
I think the Blackberry spot was ok, because it was a really good example of the young taking over the old, so it wasn’t as blatant as it probably could have been (I hear the word Blackberry at least 30 times a day at my office so maybe I am just desensitized to it).
And it does make the documentary feel a little more real with actual products and businesses in the show. But I admire that they are willing to cut that extra income for the creative good of the show. Another reason this is one of the best shows on TV!
Wow, I didn’t even know they got paid for that. It always just fits with the story. In fact, like Jennie (#8) said, it makes it even more realistic.
I saw the 30 Rock Verizon “spot” as well. What’s sad is that I didn’t even bat an eye at it until Fey looked directly into the camera and said “Can we have our money now”. I suppose that’s how prevalent Produce Placement is.
In the spirit of product placement, everyone should be aware that there is a new talking “Michael” bobblehead on NBC’s website, that says “That’s what she said” and other Michael-isms. Universal, can I have MY money now????
Product placement does not bother me if it’s not too obvious. But i love the way that 30 Rock does it, which is WAY too obvious. Tina Fey is a genius in my book.
I would think that The Office is a product’s dream. It’s very easy to place a product, because brands are all over our lives. In fact, it makes it more real.
With The Office I think product placement is a different story and actually adds to the show instead of detracting from it. Coming from someone who works in an office (IT), I can definitely relate better to the realism of the show when I see real-life products there. They don’t need to make it so obvious to the point where they are running a sales pitch in the show, but seeing the real names and places keeps things fresh and current.
Honestly, I don’t mind them that much on any of the shows I watch. The Staples tie-in with “The Office” didn’t make me want to shop at Staples, and they worked it in in a very clever way. Not at all as parodied in “The Truman Show.”
Today a local radio station played a list of 10 tunes, and you had to guess what the “common thread” was that linked the songs. The answer: every song contained “product placement,” meaning brand names were mentioned in the lyrics. For example, Sheryl Crow singing about “peeling the label from a bottle of Bud” in “All I Wanna Do.” It would be fun to make up your own list of these songs!
Such good news! I am OK with using brand names in The Office to add to the realism, but I could really do with less ads-disguised-as-programming as that bit with Kevin and the shredder last year. That was the low point of Season 3 for me. Hope they are gone for good!