Bud Light Tries Product Placement

 

This commercial made its premier during the Superbowl this year. I think it is a funny and creative parody of product placements. It also shows how aware our culture is becoming of product placements. This form of advertising has been around for decades, yet it seems that more attention is being drawn to it recently. This may be due to what consumers perceive as excessive product placements. For example, in 2008 The Biggest Loser took the spot for most product placements on television with 6, 804 brands.

The increase in television product placement is most likely due to the increase in television technology. With the invention of DVR and the creation of online television, consumers are seeing less advertisements during programing and therefore advertisers are pushing more product placements. It will be interesting to see how the product placement industry develops in the next few years, and how television advertising handles new technology. . . in the mean time check out the clip above and have a good laugh!

Product Placement on Chilean Miners

http://www.geek.com/articles/gadgets/chilean-miners-get-sunglasses

It is a beautiful day today here in Flint. All of this sun reminded me of one of my favorite product placements. You probably remember last year when a group of miners in Chile got trapped inside their mine.

Did anyone notice what they were wearing when they were rescued? Oakley sunglasses!

Because they were in the mine for so long, their eyes had become accustomed to the darkness and needed protection as they adjusted to the light again.

I loved this product placement / pr effort! The reason that I think I love it so much is because I really don't know if I would have thought of this opportunity on my own.

As it turns out...Oakley didn't think of it either. They were approached by a journalist who suggested that they help out the rescue team. Of course they jumped on the chance for this type of publicity and donated 35 pairs of specially designed sunglasses. There were two different models of sunglasses and each one retails for $180. In the end, Oakley was able to take advantage of a great product placement opportunity and also help a few people in need.

http://brandsandfilms.com/2010/10/chilean-miners-wear-oakley-sunglasses/

Chrysler: Bringing Detroit Together

      I heard a radio ad today for Chrysler, which reminded me of how much I really like the new Chrysler campaign. You have probably seen the commercial featuring Eminem and the Chrysler 200 during the Super Bowl earlier this year.
     Everyone that I have heard from in the Detroit / Flint area really likes these commercials as well. I think it is because we feel that it really captures the best parts of the City of Detroit and its people. While not all of the commercials in this campaign depict Detroit, they all have an American feel, they show the pride of owning and American car and mention cleverly that Chrysler cars are "imported from Detroit".
     However my point here is that while I was listening to the radio commercial I realized that it is the speaker in the commercials that makes me like them so much. The voice is of a man who sounds strong and powerful. I can picture him sitting at the top of a tall building in Detroit, inspiring the people on the streets below.
   So obviously, an advertisement that captures Detroit this well must be created by a Detroit advertising agency right? Not quite. The campaign was created by Wieden & Kennedy in Portland, Oregon (see more of their work here: http://www.wk.com/). I have to say, I am impressed with their insight. At a time when many people come to Detroit and see a dying city, they were able to evoke a sense of camaraderie, strength and hope in the local viewers.

I ❤ Chicago!

      I absolutely LOVE Chicago! After going to school in LA, living in Orange County and also living in the Detroit area, I have to say that Chicago is really my favorite city so far. Of course I love the California weather, but the energy of the city is so exhilarating and yet so comfortable that I think I would rather trade my days in the sun for subways and skyscrapers.

     I recently returned from a trip to Chicago with a group of students from my school, The University of Michigan - Flint. These are a few pictures from my trip.

     This was not my first time in Chicago, but it was my first time visiting a lot of the places that were scheduled. We had an amazing time and went to a few different businesses to get an idea of what industries and jobs are out there for communications or graphics design majors. My favorite two places to visit were advertising agencies (of course!). One was Cramer-Krasselt (http://www.c-k.com/), who has clients like Crocs, Porsche and Corona. I really enjoyed the culture and creativity at CK, the employees had great things to say about the company, I really hope that I can work there someday! The other agency that I liked a lot was called C:Change Inc. (http://www.cchangeinc.com/) Many of their clients are business to business advertisers, however some of their consumer advertising clients include Flowerpetal.com, MSU and Crummy Brothers. C:Change Inc. was a lot smaller than CK in terms of employees, their culture was very close and I liked that a lot as well. I would also love to work at that agency.

     While on this trip, I learned that my skills would be more useful in an account executive position, than in the copy writing positions that I had been looking for. I am so excited to be finishing school and I cannot wait to enter the advertising industry full time!

With any luck, I will someday call the wonderful city of Chicago home.

Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

    "Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" is directed by Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me). The movie is about advertising and product placement, and is paid for completely by advertising and product placement. I think everyone in the advertising or pr industry has to have a sense of humor about things like this documentary. I hope to be in that industry someday very very soon and I find this concept hilarious.
     We've all heard someone say "everything in moderation". This documentary is proof that whoever told you that was right! Product placement in movies and television, when done right, should be subtle and add to the reality of the program. It should not distract from the plot line, or in this case hijack the plot line and run with it. Anyways, the documentary is available now on dvd, so rent it or add it to your netflix queue!

A Funny Dealership Commercial??

     For those of you who don't know, I am currently on my second internship at The Spencer Agency in downtown Flint. The agency is very creative and I am so lucky to be able to participate in all of the amazing things that they do. If you want to check out more of their work go here: http://thespenceragency.com/

     Below are two commercials for one of our clients. I was able to work on set for these commercials which was an entirely new experience for me. More importantly, these are on my blog because I really like them. The commercials are funny, which is usually not seen in a car dealership commercial, and I think people remember funny commercials better than others. Also these commercials do a good job of pointing out that the staff at Vic Canever Chevrolet will go out of their way for their customers. Of course it doesn't hurt that they are all great dancers!

Vic Canever Crazy Kids:

Vic Canever Dancing Salesman:

Coffee Maker First Product Placement on British TV

I found this article the other day. . .
     On Monday, February 28, 2011 British television began allowing product placements. The first product to make it on TV? A coffee maker on a morning television show. Considering the world's dependence on coffee these days, I think its quite appropriate. What do you think?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/feb/28/product-placement-on-british-tv

Welcome to ad girl!

Hey there!

     Thanks for visiting my blog. My name is Maureen and I am an advertising and pr fanatic! I especially have a strong passion for product placement. I have decided to start this blog to show everyone some of the product placements and advertisements that catch my eye each day.

     Please let me know what you think by commenting!

Maureen :)