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Dogs or cats? (To prove Mr. Starace wrong)

Product Placement in Spectre 12/10/17




















        Besides being a great movie, Spectre is a gem when it comes to finding a movie littered with product placement. James Bond films always have been and always will be a classic when it comes to Madison and Vine techniques. The most popular being Aston Martin, many brands and businesses use these movies as advertisements for their products. In Spectre alone, the list of brands advertised in the movie is unbelievable. Spectre advertised: the Aston Martin DB10; the Omega Seamaster 300; Tom Ford clothing (including sungalsses); Range Rover vehicles; Vuarnet sunglasses; Belvedere vodka; Sony; and the Fiat 500.
        This brings us to a big question-is product placement always wrong to use in movies? Does it really detract from films? In many cases, yes, it can be wrong to sloppily use product placement left and right in a film. It can cause distraction and contribute to the overall clutter in movies--not to mention the seemingly endless commercials we're forced to sit through before the movie even starts in theaters. However, in James Bond films, product placement is so intertwined within the movies themselves that it seems normal to see countless ads for different products. The James Bond films also use Madison and Vine willingly and elegantly. The brands they feature have excellent design and seem to match up with the gadgets and tech in the movie.
        Contrary to the use of this technique in almost every movie nowadays, some movies have fought against, or at least pointed out, the sometimes annoying use of product placement. The most prominent movie of all of these is Repo Man. In Repo Man, labels of products are always described to be just what they are without the brand name. Where products might be labeled with their brand name, they're replaced with "sliced peaches" and "tomato juice," and so on.

                     

        Repo Man shines negative light on product placement. But product placement is not all bad as long as it is well executed and integrated into the film effortlessly, not forced. 

Comments

  1. Riley StallingsDecember 11, 2017 at 12:14 AM

    I understand that there is a bit of an excess of product placement in film, but I think that at some point in a franchise like James Bond, it becomes necessity, because it has become part of James Bond. After all, there is no '007 without his signature Aston Martin. That decision was probably made over 50 years ago with the first few movies, and this has forced the Madison and Vine advertising into all future Bond movies. I also think that this has set a trend, where all franchises are forced to continue with their product placement because it has become part of the atmosphere and culture.

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