The Potential of Product Placement

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Recommended: product placement as popular in new media as it has been in traditional television and film content

Profit is the bottom line for merchandising. It is often the same thing for television programming. The common denominator for this has been commercials. However, technology has made it possible to allow the viewer to skip those commercials. Some options such as DVR, Hulu, and Netflix do not necessarily even include the commercials. These innovations needed to have a counter response from advertisers. An idea to keep the product front and center was product placement. Products are incorporated into the actual television show. Product placement in television and film affects the enjoyment of the viewer and distracts from the show’s content.
Product placement is not new for media. The film, E.T., shows the children using Reese’s Pieces to lure the alien out of hiding. It is now being used more frequently to lure the viewer into purchasing. According to “New Trends in Product Placement” by Lilia Gutnik, Tom Huang, Jill Blue Lin, and Tom Schmidt, “product placement is being shaped by new technologies such as digital television (DTV), digital recording (DVR), and linking of products” (2). Television may be advancing, but products still need to be sold. Large amounts of money are at stake. In 2005, product placement was worth $4.2 billion (Gutnik et al 3). New ideas in programming have been developed that help the bottom line for the companies, but may not be in the best interest of the viewer.
American Idol is one of the first big hits of interactive media (Jenkins 343). The idea was that a large field of contestants would finally be weeded down by viewer votes to one winner. The fact that viewers voted ensured an audience for the show itself. “Many more people watch the series than try out; many more try out than...

... middle of paper ...

...arting to threaten the enjoyment of some viewers. When the annoyance outweighs the enjoyment, which is getting closer to happening, the button hit on the remote will say off.

Works Cited

Gutnik, Lila. Tom Huang, Jill Blue Lin, and Ted Schmidt. “New Trends in Product Placement”.
School of Information. Spring, 2007. Web. 08 Sept. 2013.
Jenkins, Henry. “Buying into American Idol: How We Are Being Sold on Reality Television.” Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture. Ed. Murray, Susan, and Laurie Ouellette. New York University Press, 2009. Print.
Rosin, Hanna. “The Touch-Screen Generation.” The Atlantic. 20 March 2013. Print.
Schneider, Michael. “Fall TV Analysis.” TV Guide. 24 Oct 2012. Web. 09 Sept. 2013.

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