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Could not have said it better myself.
Three cheers for saying it like it is!
‘Nuff said!
All tv channels, even the ones that shouldn’t have product placement (HBO, Showtime) have it. It’s almost impossible to watch a movie that doesn’t have it. The internet is filled with ads. Highways are littered with cars advertising their owners shitty scam of a website selling widgets or useless services. If you’re lucky enough to not notice those cars and try to enjoy the scenery, you’ll just see billboards every couple hundred of feet. The only thing left is to put ads/product placements in your dreams. (watch Futurama)
“By the way, if anyone here is in advertising or marketing, kill yourself. Thank you, thank you. Just a little thought. I’m just trying to plant seeds. Maybe one day they’ll take root. I don’t know. You try. You do what you can. Kill yourselves. Seriously though, if you are, do. No really, there’s no rationalisation for what you do, and you are Satan’s little helpers, OK? Kill yourselves, seriously. You’re the ruiner of all things good.”
-Bill Hicks
Thanks to Mr. Lynch for coming out and saying it! Hollywood and the motion picture industry no longer question the mistakes in their own policies. If a product fails it’s because of pirates not because of crap like product placement. The first time I saw this policy clearly was in the ‘movie’ – Evolution – what a piece of crap. It was like a 90 min. commercial for Head & Shoulders. I was so pissed off I ineffectively demanded my money back (they threatend to call the police).
Big deal, so they put products in the ‘summer blockbuster’ type of movie. Wow, what a shocker. Don’t like it? Don’t watch it.
I’ve never seen product placement in an ‘art’ or ‘foreign’ film, and those are usually pretty good movies.
Would the latest superhero movie be less lame sans product placement? Nope.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jOKAkMDK5wc
I don’t care for product placement, but it also frosts me when a new movie comes out and suddenly places like “The History Channel” have hours of “specials” that explain the movie, or hype it, or whatever.
“The Scorpion King” turned up with a History or A&E special that fixated on an ancient Egyptian mace with a scorpion carved on it. Which _had_ to be “The Scorpion King”….
Downhill from there….
I don’t care if the kids want Star Trek T-shirts or Lion King toys – that’s just the way it’s always been. But when every vehicle in the film is a Ford….
(And I like Fords :))
I always liked when they would make up generic product labels for movies. Like a guy drinking a beer, and the can says, ‘beer.’
This from a loser director of crappy and pretentious films that put Marilyn Manson, some of his band members and his crappy god awful music, in one of his films?
Pretty funny…
#9 Troublemaker:
“This from a loser director of crappy and pretentious films”
most anyone with good judgment would disagree with this.
“in one of his films?”
The ‘one’ part is key. Even Coppola gets to make a shitty movie (Godfather 3.)
Well I will complain about product placement when I get to see a quality movie with product placement in it.
So far the ones that have them are geared for people educated in the public school system, fed on TV and operating at a 5th grade level for logic, reason, literature and grasp of language.
The lack of classical education in the US has directly related to movies based on old TV shows or remakes of classic movies executed poorly.
Cursor_
Hella thing to say in front of an ad for AFI Dallas.
I honestly have no problems with it if it’s in a movie that makes sense to see it. Transformers, sure. Star Trek, it made sense but was pushing it a bit. A romantic comedy, akes sense even if I don’t watch them. Now if they put it in something like Lord of the Rings or Dune then it’d break the immersion and destroy the entire movie.
So IMHO it can work but only if it doesn’t break the immersion of the film.
At first I could care less, but as I was reading the comments it dawned on me.
I can accept product placement in TV shows because it’s basically free to me and TBH I’d rather have product placement then 3 3-4 minute ads in a 30 minute TV show.
But to have product placement in a Movie I still paid full price for is like having ads in games. Unless you’re going to pass the savings or part of the savings on to me the customer, I don’t like it.
I think the MPAA should look at it like this, if a movie has paid product placement in it then you should be able to distribute it freely.
Remember “Blader Runner”? there were lots of ads there, and some recognizable brands/products, but I think there was not product placement but an attempt to make things look more authentic (think of the Johnny Walker bottle Deckard drinks from in his apartment, for example). If that was product placement, it was PP done right, IMO.
I personally liked the product placements in “Idiocracy”.
I don’t think the movie would have been as good without them, although we might have seen it a couple of years earlier, since I’ve read that that was what held up the release.
I’m just glad there is at least one honest person in Hollywood!
#15 – Bladerunner had product placement and advertising as part of the background theme. Indicating where the world was going with intrusive advertising (video & audio).
My understanding is that Atari and others did pay for product placement. But as I said, it’s was to implement some realism into the film (showing fake companies would’t have as much of an impact).
A friend of mine did product placement on American Idol… she absolutely hated her job. Hated the idea of placement. She quit after the first season.
No kudos or hats off from me buddy.
asking Lynch what he thinks of product placement is like asking Rush Limbaugh what he thinks of “liberals.”
Predictable softball question/answer.
This video, like so many on this site lately, has been dug up from a morgue. It’s years old.
That’s something I might agree with.
Who cares about Product Placement?
When I open my cupboard or fridge, everything inside has a manufacturer’s label. Why shouldn’t everything in some fridge in a movie or TV show also have similar labels?
#5 Absolutely, I stopped going to the cinema (except for Tarantino). From the looks of it I’m not the only one.
It’s not just movies, they’re doing this in video games. I freaked when I started seeing adverts in Enemy Territory – Quake Wars.
If I got to pay for it, I’d prefer it without publicity.
I remember the product placement controversy when Blade Runner was released. SOme people claimed the pace of the movie even slowed down when products were visible. And don’t forget the huge hit M&M’s sales took when they turned down the chance to be in ET. Reese’s grabbed the chance and sales soared.
I’m with Fusion on this one: I find it even MORE distracting when every product in a fridge is turned so you can’t see the label or it just says BEER on that bottle the hero is guzzling. I actually thought the product placement in Shrek was funny: turning Taco Bell and Starbucks (among others) into medieval-looking logos.
As long as it’s not too in your face, fine by me. Otherwise some films might never get the budget they need.
I really like most of the films made by David Lynch, but he’s obviously not too concerned with making money. Not with that notably quirky work of his. That is the problem – movies are a business. It’s about making money. Not just “some money” from box office, but as much money as possible, like in any other business.
Having said that, I tend to dislike brands that do too much advertising and placement. I never judge a product by its advertising, so it won’t affect my purchase decisions. In fact, too much advertising by a company tells me that their quality is so poor that they really need all that massive advertising to stay relevant. It also tells me that the company doesn’t respect my space and/or intelligence, so it can’t be a very honest company, and a dishonest company won’t hesitate to sacrifice quality or sanitariness in favor of the bottom line.
Well said!
I blame the 007 movie product placements for bringing this pox on theaters. Product placement predates the James Bond flicks but they elevated it to a cheesy new level. Everyone has been following their lead for decades.