Wednesday 30 March 2011

Product Placement

Has anyone else noticed how blatantly obvious the product placement in video clips has become? I remember when there were none and these music stars where still getting paid in dumpster trucks full of money... Not personally. But you know.
Take the Lady Gaga clip for “Telephone” – that is if you can handle the full 9 minute and 30 second underwear abundant acting atrocity where Gaga stares vacantly at the camera for awkward periods of time... Here’s the link.
If you can stand it then you’ll see there are two spots of obvious product placement for Virgin Mobile – at 2:08, 4:14 and one for Polaroid at 5:43 as well as a little one towards the end. There’s also one for the Plenty of Fish dating website – weird. Now these aren’t just little slipped in props that may catch your attention in a quick flash if you’re lucky (or unlucky) these are long ass close up shots of these products... I mean if you watch them and go “deeeerrrrrrrr” for as long as the thing is on the screen then you’ll get how long it actually seems. And simultaneously you’ll sound like the zombie that these companies want you to be so that you shuffle your dead carcass to the stores to buy several of their product!
Okay... duh... the song is called “Telephone” and they are promoting phones – I’VE MADE THAT CONNECTION thank you very much Sceptical Reader. It’s not just this clip. And they don’t always make sense... or rather they rarely make sense. Black Eyed Peas have always got some mobile phones in their clips like “Let’s Get it Started”. Lady Gaga shamelessly promotes Baby G watches, Campari in “Love Game”. Diesel sunglasses in Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold”. We see Carerra sunglasses in Rhianna’s “Rude Boy” and a long look at some Parrot product in “Russian Roulette”. Britney Spears makes some shameless self-promotion in her new clip “Hold it Against me” with her fragrance “Radiance” as well as Make Up Forever, Sony and Plenty of Fish – you’re pretty much saying “deeeerrrrr” through this whole clip but not just from the products but also the random Britney v Britney smackdown towards the end. I’ve got my bets on Britney. “Deeeeerrrrrrr?”
I’m guessing these sneaky sponsors are a backlash against the influx of illegal downloads... I mean aren’t they saying the music industry isn’t making as much money as it once was? So that makes some sense... Why mobile phones though? Doesn’t everyone in the world have an iphone now? And if they don’t aren’t they making progress to get one? Why are watches being promoted? Since when was time going out of style?
I just have one more question for this clip... Okay I kind of understand why Gaga and Beyonce poisoned the jerk boyfriend and to a lesser extent the whole restaurant... but WHY DID THEY HAVE TO KILL THE DOG?? What did it do to deserve that fate? I doubt the dog would gallop to the cops to dob them in thereby ensuring itself some sort of monetary compensation. What would a dog do with money? Or justice for that matter? Was the dog Gaga’s jerk boyfriend? Did the dog eat all Gaga’s food? Treat her badly? Not introduce her to his doggy friends? Criticise her dress sense? I don’t think so. Poor puppy.
Having said all this if there are any technological big wigs who want to pimp their product via my blog and pay me oodles for it then... well... maybe then it’s ok.

What others can YOU find?
PS: Just for a treat look at 6:19 and you’ll see one guy using a lettuce as a phone and another using a baguette. Maybe this is more product placement I was unaware of! All I know is I’m eating more lettuce and bread than ever before! They don’t get very good reception though...

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