The Art of Product Placement

You may have heard the term "product placement" used in the context of movies and television. I'm sure you have seen products from companies such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, etc., in your favorite movies and TV shows. Seeing real-life products such as these in films and TV shows could have made you happy, laugh, or even want to purchase these products. You may have been surprised or confused about why you suddenly want these products just from seeing them in a movie once. Well, that is the beauty of product placement. Companies use product placement to make viewers want their products even if those products are common and well-known to society. Product placement is quickly becoming a massive way for brands to reach their target audience. But what exactly is product placement, how does it work, and what impact will it have on the future of advertising?

Product placement is the promotion of branded goods and services within the context of shows, movies, personal videos, etc. rather than as an explicit advertisement such as ads and commercials. When motion pictures (movies) became popular in the 1920s and 30s, companies saw this as an opportunity to incorporate their products into the films as a way to turn viewers into customers. While this was the right idea to make a profit and turn viewers into customers, the way they executed their plan was a fiasco, to say the least. Companies advertised their products blatantly in films and many moviegoers considered product placement to be a nuisance. However, over time, companies adjusted their strategies on how to promote their products in film. These new and improved methods proved to be successful and led to the "golden age" of product placement which was during the 1980s and 1990s. Brands and companies such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Pepsi, etc. were featured in movies such as "Back to the Future", and "Home Alone", and even in TV shows such as "Friends" and "Steinfeld." Companies changing their product placement techniques from blatant to more subtle advertising was a success and gave way to the nickname "embedded marketing."