Product Placement: The Rise of Colonel Colgate

By Eric Ivanov on 09/09/2009

Today I decided to sit down with a nice refreshing can of Coca-Cola and write about the ridiculousness of product placement. My Macbook Pro was able to pick up a Comcast high-speed Internet connection and let me surf the web with ease, to research the content of my post using Google's endless database. All kinds of products are being shown to us when we might not even know. But thanks to the insight and unbiased opinion of IFC's Make Media Matter we are able to cut through the fat and get to the meat, Bore's Head meat that is.
Product placement is the new way to advertise, and it seems that everyone is doing it. The thirty-second segment is no longer cutting it for many big companies so they are pushing their way into TV shows, movies, and even magazines. It offers a new, not so deliberate, way to get people to see their products. If the company pays enough they might even be able to get a star to use their product. Experts say that the star power is a subliminal way to have people think that if they use the product that they might achieve the same results.
The companies are not the ones forcing their way into the new playing field. The producers and the stations are pulling them into it, in an effort to lower their costs. Now instead of selling time slots they are selling places in movies for products to go. If the action hero saves a bank, chances are it won't be Acme bank but the title will be TD Bank, Chase, ect.
This kind of hidden advertising gets us used to the product, and more likely to grab it next time we are at the store. It seems to be working, or companies wouldn't be shelling out the big bucks to get their product in the movie. The placement of these products brings a sort of realism to our entertainment, but at the same time the show might seem like its more concerned with selling a product than entertaining us.
I can't help to wonder what TV and movies will look like in ten years. Will Captain America be replaced by Colonel Colgate, who will fight Count Chocula's evil sugar minions with his super stain fighting powers? If the trend we are on continues, corporations will sponsor all of our superheroes, so take a look at the programs and notice what you are watching.

Additional Photos: ["news", insidesocal.com, "30 Rock", popcrunch.com]