Product placement in classic movies
With the current advances in computer special effects and current trends in marketing, it won't be long until we see classic movies with new product placements. Imagine Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart drinking cans of Coke in Casablanca, Judy Garland sporting a pair of ruby Nike sneakers in The Wizard of Oz, or John Wayne wearing a Tabasco kerchief in The Searchers. The possibilities are endless!
If you think marketers wouldn't dare, think again. These are marketing people we're talking about! They'll slap an ad or logo on anything they can: NASCAR race cars, T-shirts, neckties, golf balls, even gasoline pump handles! If Ted Turner can colorize entire movies, marketers sure as heck won't mind a little creative manipulation. Just look at what George Lucas did to the original Star Wars films.
The reason this will be primarily limited to older films is that it won't cause as many problems. Product placement hadn't taken off during the black and white days like it has now. Many movies from those days have been bought by companies other than the studio that originally distributed them, so they could be bought and sold again. But imagine what would happen if someone tried to replace Reese's Pieces with M&M's in E.T. the Extra-terrestrial! The lawsuits would fly.
But why should advertisers stop with movies? Soon you might see a DVD set of the first season of Bonanza, sponsored by Bush's Baked Beans. Or maybe we'll see the AT&T logo on Maxwell Smart's shoe phone. Who knows?
Now if this does indeed come to pass, don't blame me. They're already doing it with short movie clips used as TV commercials. What I've outlined is just the next step. Maybe it's already being done and they've managed to keep it subtle enough to avoid notice. Nah, these are marketers we're talking about. I don't think subtle is in their vocabulary.
(This text is Copyright 2006 by 1boringperson. If you want to share it, please send your friends the link to this page rather than the full text. Thank you.)
If you think marketers wouldn't dare, think again. These are marketing people we're talking about! They'll slap an ad or logo on anything they can: NASCAR race cars, T-shirts, neckties, golf balls, even gasoline pump handles! If Ted Turner can colorize entire movies, marketers sure as heck won't mind a little creative manipulation. Just look at what George Lucas did to the original Star Wars films.
The reason this will be primarily limited to older films is that it won't cause as many problems. Product placement hadn't taken off during the black and white days like it has now. Many movies from those days have been bought by companies other than the studio that originally distributed them, so they could be bought and sold again. But imagine what would happen if someone tried to replace Reese's Pieces with M&M's in E.T. the Extra-terrestrial! The lawsuits would fly.
But why should advertisers stop with movies? Soon you might see a DVD set of the first season of Bonanza, sponsored by Bush's Baked Beans. Or maybe we'll see the AT&T logo on Maxwell Smart's shoe phone. Who knows?
Now if this does indeed come to pass, don't blame me. They're already doing it with short movie clips used as TV commercials. What I've outlined is just the next step. Maybe it's already being done and they've managed to keep it subtle enough to avoid notice. Nah, these are marketers we're talking about. I don't think subtle is in their vocabulary.
(This text is Copyright 2006 by 1boringperson. If you want to share it, please send your friends the link to this page rather than the full text. Thank you.)