Blog #6

I think product placement is a great way of advertising, if done right. Personally, I would much rather watch a movie straight through with real products spotted everywhere than to watch one interrupted by so many commercials. I believe that this is a very effective form of advertising. I know that I have been effected by this many times, like when I see a pair of cute jeans with the brand mentioned, I consider going out to buy those jeans. However, the fact that a TV or movie star uses a product is not a complete selling point for me. I still have to be a smart consumer and take into consideration my budget and how much I really need a product. But as I mentioned before, product placement can only be effective if it is done right. Obnoxious placement can sometimes be a turnoff for me, such as the Snapple excerpt from 30 rock. If I can tell that they are trying to buy me something, I think that they are trying too hard, and as a result, I do not think about buying that product. My favorite example of product placement was on one of the last episodes of public TV's Passions. Passions was moving to DirecTV so I could no longer watch it without DirecTV. The reason this was so obnoxious was because I am sure that at least twenty times during an hour episode, DirecTV was mentioned and the characters went on and on and on about how wonderful it was. They even went as far as to put a word bubble from Baby Andora's head that said "DirecTV is my favorite!" This approach to product placement is unnecessary and completely ineffective. It must be subtle and small for me to be effected.