Written by Terri Reddout

Product Placement

Product placement is where a brand is incorporated into the scenery of a movie or television show.  And it’s big.  Really BIG.  In 2017, product placement represented $8.78 Billion in spending.

A little product placement history

One of the first product placements I remember is Reese’s Pieces in the movie E.T. The Extraterrestrial.

Yes, originally Spielberg wanted to use M&Ms, but Mars turned him down.  So, the producers went to Hershey’s and they gladly gave permission to use their little known candy.  The deal struck between Hershey’s and the movie producers involved a Hershey promise to spend $1,000,000 to promote the movie.  In exchange, Hershey’s could use E.T. in their ads.  After the movie’s premier, sales of Reece’s pieces increased by 65 percent.

When they re-released E.T. in 2002, Hershey’s struck a similar deal (as this commercial demonstrates.)

There are four types of product placement.

• One is the deal like Reese’s pieces.
• A second type involves the company providing the movie producers big ticket items such as cars, appliances, technology equipment for free.  Almost half of all product placement is based on this type of deal.
• The third type is “straight fee.”  This is where the advertiser pays to have the product included in the film or television show.
• The fourth type is “organic.” The product becomes part of the storyline without any goods, services or money being exchanged.  This can be a bit risky if the product is being used in a negative or derogatory manner. Continue reading First, let me take a sip of this refreshing Pepsi… →