Reading Blogs

I read Jacqueline Nguyen's Blog #7 about Product Placement. I never notice how often products were advertised in movies because I am always captivated by the movie plot that I do not realize that there are products being marketed and advertised throughout the entire movie. Jacqueline gave many examples of movies that portrayed products inside the movie. The products can be anything from a huge part of the movie, like the cars in the movie, Fast and the Furious, or it can even be a cell phone that was used once in the movie.

Another movie Jacqueline mentioned was "He's Just Not That Into You." Drew Barrymore’s character owned a MacBook that had its own scene with MySpace about dating. I watched this movie with a bunch of my girlfriends and I actually recall telling my friend beside me that I would love to own a MacBook. I have had a DELL laptop for over 3 years now, and now the MacBook is the new trend. Everyone is changing to MacBooks so the movie definitely made me crave a new laptop.

I believe that the more the product is exposed in the movie, the more effective it would be for the audience's recall rates. If the product is associated with a main character, verbally mentioned and/or they may play a key role in the storyline, this will be the most effective for consumers. I agreed with Jacqueline when she said that the future of movies is going to have a blur or products in them, where the plot even revolves around the product. I know that many companies are paying for their products to be shown in the movies because it is a great way to market them. Many people like to skip commercials, so the products are not getting much exposure. With huge hit movies, many people are forced to be exposed to seeing the products and the products may be shown in a different light where the consumer relates the product to the movie. This may create a positive emotion about the product.

There is one movie in particular that I remember the product being exposed throughout the movie. In the "Sex and the City" movie, Absolut Vodka was displayed everywhere. In the movie, Samantha is a PR representative that helps her boyfriend appear in a seductive compaigne called "Absolut Hunk." The billboard was placed in Time Square and all of the girls loved him. The Absolut Hunk has now become a real drink and is very popular. Throughout the movie, everyone is sipping on the drink.

Another perspective she had was that big products such as Apple and Coca Cola are being placed in movies so often that other companies can not compete. These big companies have so much money that they can endorse into the movie and smaller companies do not have a chance in being a huge part of the plots. I definitely agree with Jacqueline in this case because it is difficult for small companies to outweigh the big products that are so popular in today's society. Smaller companies should try and find a new medium to get their products exposed to the consumers.