Product Placement - Extra Credit

Brand placement in movies
Product placement is more frequent than ever. As consumers we are constantly bombarded with advertisements and promotions. It is a way that marketers can have their brands viewed in a positive light, without the obvious intent to advertise a product. It is a way Marketers and Manufacturers can expose the brand to the consumers without them feeling that they are being marketed to. A great example of this strategy is Cast Away starring Tom Hanks who plays a FedEx worker. The movie revolves around Tom Hanks’ character being stranded on a desert island with a FedEx package. The point: this movies is practically a two hour FedEx commercial, it is hard to talk about the plot of the movie without mentioning the brand. Another movie that has exceptional product placement is Blades of Glory it features over 37 brands, among these include: Pepsi, Google, Adidas and Budweiser. Product placement not only affects adult movies it is also a prominent feature of animated films targeted at young children. For example Bee Movie includes the brands: Vogue, Cinnabon, Timberland, Polo Ralph Lauren and the Emmy Awards. As previously mentioned it is a great way for manufactures to get their brands viewed by many in a non pressure or sale oriented manner.

Celebrities and Public Relations

Britney Spears
I think that Britney Spears will go down as the most talked about celebrity of this decade. We have all witnessed her transformation from the innocent bubblegum pop princess to the mother of two boys, who has rarely stayed out of the lime light in recent years. The singer’s career took a notable down turn with the divorce to the father of her children Kevin Federline. The public speculated when Britney became pregnant with her first son and the media attention only increased when she gave birth to her second child. Britney’s bubblegum image was shattered when the media took countless pictures of Britney not only looking rough but acting outrageous and partying all night long. With the media so heavily focused on Britney multiple pictures surfaced of her implementing bad parenting. for months and months all we would see is negative pictures of the singer, it seems that she did nothing to clean up her image. She was constantly pictured out late at night partying, there were multiple rumors and stories about her new lifestyle and image in gossip magazines. The pinnacle of Britney’s relationship with the media was when she famously shaved her head, and admitted herself in to a mental institution for the day. Through all of this it seemed that she did nothing to mend her ways or improve the image she was presenting to her fans. I think that the media definitely do not help in representing true images of celebrities, not defending Britney Spears but the media only show a one sided story. A story in which they know will sell magazines off the stands whether the articles are true or not it is not important to the paparazzi.

Superbowl Commercials

This year I was somewhat disappointed with the Superbowl commercials, as a whole I didn’t find them as comical as the previous year. I feel that the majority of the Superbowl commercials are targeted at male audiences, therefore the commercials use sex and humor as message appeals. The majority of the top ten Superbowl commercials for 2007 and 2008 were advertisements for beer. Bud Weiser is famous for their humorous adverts during the game. Although this year I felt that the commercials for bud light this year were dumb, for example with Bud light you can fly. This commercial featured a man flying while drinking a beer and suddenly he gets caught up in the engine of a plane, I just think that it wasn’t creative or imaginative. Another commercial I thought should have been in the top ten was the Audi commercial, in which an old man wakes up covered in motor oil and the grill of his car at his feet. This commercial was based on a movie in which I haven’t seen so I didn’t understand the commercial or how it related to the brand. Two commercials that I thought were creative and effective were Career Builder.com and the Bobble Head Pepsi advert. First off to me the Career Builder.com commercial was shocking and left me curious about the company. Secondly the Bobble Head Pepsi commercial made me laugh as it shows various people falling asleep until they take a sip of the new Pepsi Max product. The Pepsi commercial is by far my favorite as I don’t drink coffee so I usually drink diet soda in the mornings to wake me up.

Advertising for the 2008 Presidential election

I think this past election was the most intense election I have experienced to date, in America and England. I felt like I could not turn on the television, radio or open up a website without a political advertisement popping up. Not only did advertisements come in media forms only but the amount of signage I saw for candidates was surprising. I believe advertisements in the race for presidency is essential! As many people do not talk the time to research issues of the parties but vote on what they see in commercials. I think Obama’s advertisements were classy and upstanding. He excluded himself from the usual mudslinging of election campaigning and focused on the values and issues that he stood by. Whereas McCain’s advertising campaign was full of digs towards the new appointed president. This type of advertising is extremely ineffective to myself, I zone out when a McCain commercial came on. I feel using negative slurs and remarks towards your opponent in such a crucial race, only makes you look like a bad competitor. Overall I was relieved when Election Day was finally here, although I am not eligible to vote it meant and end to the bombardment on commercials and advertisements.

Message Appeals

The most effective message appeal to me is humor; it made me pay attention to the commercial and sparks curiosity to find out more about the brand. For example the new Guitar Hero commercial includes celebrities including Michael Phelps and Alex Rodriquez imitating the famous scene from risking business when Tom Cruise slides in to the picture singing. I would this advertisement very funny and it caught my attention while zoning out during the commercial break. Another commercial that caught my attention was the Allstate commercial we discussed in class. This commercial uses a different type of message appeal: Fear. This commercial really brought a message home as far as how many teenagers are killed every year in cars; many insurance commercials tell you statistics. But this ad gave a great visual that made me sit back and really think about how many car accidents happen.
Two commercials that I don’t think their message appeals are as strong to me is the Truth about Smoking commercials. Especially the commercial where they have life size woman, made out of ice with a toy child inside, the idea behind the advertisement is to make you feel guilty about smoking and being pregnant. I just feel that if you already smoking and pregnant that you aren’t really concerned about your babies health so a 30 second commercial is probably either going to produce a slight feeling of guilt for a couple minutes or not going to faze you at all. Another commercial that I do not like is Burger King reverse pick pocketing. I feel like it is trying to use humor as a message appeal but I just do not find it funny at all. With that said I do remember the commercial so the company whether the message appeal was interpreted right or wrong it did make the commercial stick in my mind and remember the brand.

Creative Brief

Background / Overview: Coke zero, this commercial shows that you can drink a diet soda but have all the taste of a regular soda. The Puts emphasize upon the taste of the soda, and clearly communicates the message that both products have the same great taste.

Objectives: The aim is to promote Coke zero in the light of being zero calories but full of flavor. I t also activates the customer to go try coke zero and make the comparison.

Message: The message I took from this commercial is that there is a diet soda that doesn’t taste diet but the same as a regular soda. So you can enjoy the great taste of coke but without the calories.

Target audience: All coke drinkers, and general public.

The medium: The commercial is very funny, with coke trying to sue coke zero for taste infringements. It brings humor to the message they are conveying.

Mandatory Elements: These would include creativity and effectiveness of the commercial, along with the information relayed.

Schedule: Begins with the creative team building ideas first, then collaborating ideas, music etc and finally shooting the commercial.

Responsible Parties: The CEO of the brand.

Outdoor advertising

In England every year around Christmas time, the government campaigns against drink driving. It usually begins in the months leading up to the holidays. My favorite advertisement is a 6ft tall man with an empty glass on top of him, it was in many of the large train stations. It caught much of the public attention as it is not every day that you see an advertisement like this. Not only does it draw attention to its self but it also make you think about how easy it is to drink and drive. The aim of this government based campaign is to bring attention to a growing problem in England and with advertisements as such it reminds the public of the law. I think this ad is creative and thought provoking.