The Help, one of the most successful movies of 2011 is set in 1963, so I hadn’t had high expectations regarding product placement. However I was pleasantly surprised with the number of brands involved and also with the execution. As we could’ve seen in Mad Men, producers can include brands in movies and TV shows that take place some 50 years ago to provide a better historical landscape and also without making fools of themselves.
The heroine, Skeeter Phelan, drives a Cadillac, which is a natural fit, since she’s from a wealthy Mississippi state family.
Cadillac in The Help (2011, DreamWorks, screen capture)
Coca Cola
One of the world’s and America’s most iconic brands has a prominent role when a young southern girl has a conversation with a future maid. They both drink Coke and the bottle can be spotted in several scenes.
Coca Cola in The Help (2011, DreamWorks, screen capture)
Life magazine
Life magazine is briefly seen in a scene which shows Medgar Evers’ widow and her son, after the assassination of her husband. Evers was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi involved in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi. He was assassinated in June 1963 by a member of the White Citizens’ Council.
Life magazine in The Help (2011, DreamWorks, screen capture)
Shinolator
Shinalator (in the movie it is called shinolator) is a hair product from the 60s that was used to treat frizzy hair. Skeeter got it from New York and her mother used it to prepare her for a date with Stuart.
Shinolator in The Help (2011, DreamWorks, screen capture)
Crisco
Movie’s most interesting product placement was for Crisco. Crisco is a classic American brand of shortening (any fat that is solid at room temperature and used to make crumbly pastry) that was used for frying, baking and everything else in the kitchen
Crisco in The Help (2011, DreamWorks, screen capture)
One of the main characters in the movie told us:
Well … I reckon if there’s anything you ought to know about cooking, it’s this.
The most important invention since they put mayonnaise in a jar.
You got gum in your hair, you got a squeaky door hinge…
Crisco.
You got bags under your eyes.
Want to soften your husband’s scaly feet.
Mm-hm. Crisco.
But it’s best for frying chicken.
Great stuff!
You can find more pictures of product placement from the movie at Brands & Films’ Facebook page
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Other movies from the ‘Product placement in pictures’ series:
In the end of November 2011 an E-commerce giant eBay added a new feature to its iPad app, which allows users to shop for products based on what they are watching on TV. The feature is called “Watch with eBay” and let you browse and buy items related to the TV programme you’re watching.
First you have to tell the app where you’re located and which cable provider do you have at home. Then you just have to tell eBay what you’re watching: a sporting event, movie, drama, reality show, sitcom … Watch with eBay will then show you related items for sale on eBay.
Sounds cool, ha?
Well, not so fast :)
eBay's new feature: Watch with eBay
Steve Yankovich, eBay’s VP of Platform Business Solutions & Mobile, eBay said in a recent interview with Robert Scoble that there’s a lot to be done in that field and I agree with him. Even though Watch with eBay works only in the US I managed to convince the app that I live somewhere in the state of New York and on Sunday I tested the app with two programs: NFL wild card game between Atlanta Falcons and NY Giants, and the movie Friends with Benefits, which has some very notable product placements (you can read more about that topic in a blog post Product placement in pictures: Friends with Benefits).
Let’s see how the app performed.
1. NFL game: Atlanta Falcons vs New York Giants
The app offered me an impressive number of hits: 49,764. Most of them were football related products associated with the keywords Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants and Football Wild-Card Round. I’ve also browsed through different categories and you could buy anything you want, related to those keywords. Pretty awesome, but as Mr. Yankovich said there is room for improvement.
Watch with eBay's results for NFL game between Atlanta Falcons and New York Giants
2. Friends with Benefits
The summer blockbuster involved some notable brands and products. Justin Timberlake worked for GQ Magazine, we could’ve spotted several Sony products (Playstation, Sony Experia mobile phone, TV, Sony Vaio laptop), iPad, posters for Skyy vodka and a mysterious L.T. Kali painting.
Watch with eBay offered me a bunch of DVDs and Blu-Ray discs, but that was predictable. However I then choose Magazines category and checked the results. The outcome: nothing special, just a bunch of magazines with either Justin Timberlake or Mila Kunis on cover (with a few GQs among them).
Watch with eBay's results for Friends with Benefits
When I chose Art they offered me posters of Justin or Mila, when I chose Mobile phones and PDAs I’ve only received custom designed phone cases with Justin Timberlake. Basically all results were associated with either Justin or Mila.
Watch with eBay's results for magazines & Friends with Benefits
So, can eBay’s iPad app enhance the importance of product placement? Can it help generate revenue out of product placement?
In my opinion it can. Steve Yankovich said in the aforementioned interview that our free time and television consuming habits have changed. We now come home from work and don’t use laptop or desktop computer. No, we use tablets, mostly iPads. We’re using them on the couch, sometimes while watching TV. And there is only a small step to ‘couch commerce’ or to describe it plainly: ordering goods and services while relaxing at home.
A recent study from eBay indicated that 86% of mobile users use their devices while watching TV. Also, eBay said that a quarter of these are browsing content related to what they’re watching. So, Watch with eBay is a perfect tool for buying stuff during some sports broadcasts, because you don’t have to be totally focused on the TV programme.
Steve Yankovich said a TV programme or anything you watch on TV or on different screens can be a commerce inspirational vehicle with eBay the first in line with its enormous number of products on sale. “Shoppers are in the driver’s seat, with mobile technology putting the mall right in your pocket. We’re using our mobile and tablet innovations to empower people to shop and find the best deals – anytime, anywhere, any way they want – from the comfort of their couch or on the go.”
Using eBay’s app for monetizing product placement in movies or TV shows is a bit more difficult but clearly not impossible. Yankovich believes that it will be easier, especially when there is meta data for everything that it’s in the TV show. He thinks that manual work is not sensible, because there are too many products in a movie or let’s calls them commercial opportunities (from a mug in the kitchen to a brand new car).
In my opinion that’s true, but eBay should at least try it with some blockbusters which had a lot of placements. They could choose 20 or 50 relatively new movies, check product placement from those movies (on BrandChannel or Brands&Films) and add a few keywords.
It should be simple. It might be commercially viable, too!
Drive was one of the best and most critically acclaimed movies of 2011 (with a 12-minute standing ovation in Cannes). It was also one of my favorites too. The movie doesn’t have a lot of (paid) placements; however there were some memorable products involved that might even become iconic. The best chance for that probably has Driver’s Scorpion jacket.
Let’s check the jacket and some other products from Drive.
Scorpion jacket
The jacket, worn by Ryan Gosling, is probably the most memorable piece of wardrobe from the movie. According to the director Nicolas Winding Refn the jacket was inspired by Kenneth Anger’s movie Scorpion Rising. Even more, the scorpion that is on the back of the white satin bomber jacket is an exact replica of the scorpion in the logo of that movie.
Scorpion jacket in Drive (2011, FilmDistrict, screen capture)
The jacket was built from the scratch with the help of Los Angeles based tailor Richard Lim of High Society Custom Tailoring. The production crew tested several styles and colors, but in the end settled for white (almost silver) satin jacket.
Well, if you want your own Scorpion jacket, you can now buy a replica at US retailer Steady Clothing. Great move!
Chevrolet Impala
Chevy Impala has a small role in the movie, but it has a part in the opening sequence, which was brilliantly described by James Berardinelli in his review of Drive: “Drive opens with a getaway, and shows the meticulous planning that goes into one such operation. It includes a stopwatch, a police band radio, and some badass driving. The eight minute sequence could stand on its own as a short. It’s the best part of a movie that is otherwise still very good.”
Impala was mentioned only once: when Driver’s mentor and boss Shannon presented him the car for the next getaway.
“There she is! ‘Chevy Impala’, most popular car in the state of California. No one will be looking at you.”
Chevrolet Impala in Drive (2011, FilmDistrict, screen capture)
Impala is Chevrolet’s car, introduced for the 1958 model year (the ninth generation was presented in 2006). Auto Sales report from The Wall Street Journal for December 2011 shows that Chevy Impala wasn’t in the top 20 best selling cars. Even more, Todd Bianco of WeHo News, wrote in his review of the movie that he’s not so sure if Chevy Impala is the most popular car in California, but he knows that it’s consistently in the top 10 because it’s the darling of the corporate and rental fleets. Bianco continued “No one buys an Impala; you rent it at the airport. And sure enough, true to Shannon’s promise, the car and its driver get lost in the throngs of people and cars at the LA Staples Center parking lot after a Clippers vs. Raptors game. It’s the perfect metaphor for anonymity in car-crazy Los Angeles.“
Gloves
Drive’s costume designer Erin Benach revealed for GQ that a specialty glove-maker in L.A. made the gloves for the movie. They were inspired by Steve McQueen, who can be seen in several photos with driving gloves with the holes in the knuckles.
Driving gloves in Drive (2011, FilmDistrict, screen capture)
Levi’s denim jacket
According to Erin Benach the denim jacket was a vintage Levi’s that needed to be tailored a little bit for Ryan Gosling. Then they had to multiply it by 12 for all the blood in the movie :)
Levi's denim jacket in Drive (2011, FilmDistrict, screen capture)
The henley T-shirt
First of all a bit of theory and history: a henley shirt is a collarless men’s pullover shirt, characterized by a 10 centimeters (3.9 in) long placket beneath the round neckline, usually having 2-5 buttons (basically a collarless polo shirt). The sleeves may be either short or long, and it can be made in almost any fabric. According to Wikipedia henley shirt got its name because this particular style of shirt was the traditional uniform of rowers in the English town of Henley-on-Thames.
Henley T-shirt in Drive (2011, FilmDistrict, screen capture)
Erin Benach told GQ that finding the right henley T shirt was quite a challenge and that they probably tried around 300 different model. In the end we wound up finding some dead stock Thirties army/navy henleys and got 15 of them. Those shirts apparently originated from soldiers wanting to wear a layer underneath their wool, just to take off their fighting jackets, their combat jackets, and then still have something on.
Ford Mustang and Chrysler 300
Both cars were very visible in the movie’s second car chase.
Ford Mustang in Drive (2011, FilmDistrict, screen capture)
Chrysler 300 in Drive (2011, FilmDistrict, screen capture)
As I said in the beginning of the post there weren’t many brands in Drive, although there were a lot of small, meticulously plotted details that made the movie special, above all the Scorpion jacket. And I totally agree with Simon Kinnear who concluded his review of Drive for the awesome Clothes in Film blog: “By the end of the film, Gosling is still wearing that satin jacket but, like Bruce Willis’ vest in Die Hard, it can’t really be called white any more – much like Driver’s own reputation.”
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Other movies from the ‘Product placement in pictures’ series:
Here it is: the annual review of the best of the best in product placement and branded entertainment. In my previous feature The Best of 2010 I chose iPad’s placement in Modern Family as product placement of the year 2010, but this year iPad didn’t win any award.
The winners of 2011 are …
THE BEST PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN MOVIES AND TV SERIES
If I had to present an actual award for the best product placement in 2011 I would have a really tough task. This year, no product placement really stood up in terms of overall greatness, so I decided that there won’t be any best of the best award for 2011. There are two examples that could be memorable: one for its execution and one for the idea. BMW’s involvement in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is an example of embracing opportunities that came with high profile product placement. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen the movie yet, so BMW & MI4 can’t win the contest at Brands & Films.
The other example is Morgan Spurlock’s documentary POM Wonderful presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, which was a great idea, but with not-optimal execution. Even for me Spurlock’s movie wasn’t as entertaining as it could have been. Perhaps it would be better to stick with a more traditional approach.
To compensate not giving the best of award I’ve decided to present some other prominent and interesting placements that occurred in 2011.
PRODUCT PLACEMENT MYSTERY OF THE YEAR
Somewhere in the middle of the movie Friends With Benefits Justin Timberlake gives Mila Kunis a present: a Banksy-like painting by a mysterious artist L.T. Kali. I haven’t found any useful information, so I’ve sent a tweet to Sony Pictures with a question whether L.T. Kali is a real street artist or some fictional character. The answer was:
“From the director – In the spirit of all street artsits, we request that LT Kali remains anonymous. Thanks.”
That answers didn’t give me any confirmation, however later on someone posted a comment on blog post Product placement in pictures: Friends With Benefits that L.T. Kali might be the same guy who did the iPod like artwork for Roger Waters’ 2010 The Wall Live Tour. These artworks appear during the performance of Run Like Hell. Maybe … but I still don’t know who L.T. Kali is.
ALL PRODUCT PLACEMENTS IN THE WORLD COULDN’T PREVENT THE CEO FROM GETTING FIRED
Fiat decided to make a big splash on the US market in 2011. They have re-entered the market after 17 years. Fiat North America’s head Laura Soave hired Jennifer Lopez to appear in their ads for Fiat 500 Gucci Edition and put the car in her video. Later they even drove the car on stage at the American Music Awards (more on that later). Fiat also sponsored Wainy Days, web series on My Damn Channel, which premiered its fifth season in early December. According to Brand Channel Wainy Days is the longest-running and most-watched comedy series online. Saks Fifth Avenue even put Fiat 500 Gucci in their Holiday window.
Fiat 500 in J. Lo's music video Papi (2011, Island, screen capture)
However, all those ‘creative’ promotions couldn’t help Soave to sell 50,000 cars as she was supposed to. Fiat sold around 16,000 cars and Laura Soave had to go.
PRODUCT PLACEMENT SURPRISE OF THE YEAR
“The rucksack contained her white Apple iBook 600 with a 25-gig hard drive and 420 megs of RAM, manufactured in January 2002 and equipped with a 14-inch screen. At the time she bought it, it was Apple’s state-of-the-art laptop. Salander’s computers were upgraded with the very latest and sometimes most expensive configurations—computer equipment was the only extravagant entry on her list of expenses.” (a passage from Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo)
Lisbeth Salander is an Apple girl. That’s a fact. In Swedish movie adaptations she used various Mac models, but in David Fincher’s US version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, produced by Sony Pictures, she’s using Sony Vaio. That was expected and it’s quite normal, but I was surprised after all. Stieg Larsson made it really clear that Lisbeth is a loyal Apple user that I anticipated that the producers will maybe blur the logo or do something.
Lisbeth Salander uses Sony Vaio (source: BrandChannel)
PRODUCT PLACEMENT PROSTITUTION OF THE YEAR
On Sunday, 20th November, American television ABC aired the 2011 American Music Awards, which became famous for one (unnecessary) event: during Jennifer Lopez’s performance of the medley of three songs ‘Until It Beats No More’, ‘Papi’ and ‘On the Floor’ a car drove on the stage. It was Fiat 500, which was also included in her video for the song ‘Papi’.
The majority of viewers and fans were baffled and quite angry. That could be expected, even more because we weren’t exposed to that kind of in-your-face product placement before, especially not at music events…
That’s why this Fiat’s action deserves a Product placement prostitution of the year award.
ECO FRIENDLY PRODUCT PLACEMENT OF THE YEAR
Toyota continues to place its eco-friendly model Prius in all kinds of movies and TV shows. We spotted Prius in TV shows Modern Family, Wilfred and Happy Endings. Also, the car could be seen in movies Horrible Bosses, Hall Pass, No Strings Attached, Our Idiot Brother … In Hall Pass we could see main characters’ rich neighbor bragging: “We’re going green”, even though his brand new Toyota Prius is parked next to a big and gas-consuming Hummer. it was even
Toyota Prius in Hall Pass (2011, New Line Cinema, screen capture)
To be seen in so many movies is definitely a good strategy that last year resulted in a “Best Role in a Supporting Product Placement” handed out by BrandChannel. Last year Prius was placed in several high profile movies, such as The Other Guys, The Kids are All Right, Repo Man, Wall Street 2 and The Next Three Days.
Great stuff by Toyota.
SUNGLASSES OF THE YEAR
Sunglasses are one of the most usable products that can be used as a product placement, with such iconic placements as Ray Ban’s aviators in Top Gun or wayfarers in Risky Business. And you definitely haven’t forgotten Oakleys worn by Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 2. However, this year belongs to Ryan Gosling. His character Jacob from Crazy Stupid Love wore model Chad by an American glasses manufacturer Selima Optique.
If you click on Selima’s link above you’ll find an interesting explanation about Chad sunglasses:
These can usually be seen on a certain dashing young star, we won’t name-drop, of course!
Note: Due to overwhelming popularity, AUBURN TORTOISE IS ALL SOLD OUT! Still available in three amazing colors. Contact us with your name and telephone number to be added to the waiting list for Auburn Tortoise.
Chad sunglasses by Selima Optique in Crazy Stupid Love (2011, Warner Bros., screen capture)
Media event par excellence in 2011 was the British royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton (now the Duchess of Cambridge) with reported figures of more than 2 billion viewers (although some reports tried to show that this number was really exaggerated). Among the main stars of the weddings were Middleton sisters, Kate and Pippa, and her Alexander McQueen dresses.
Kate’s wedding dress was designed by Sarah Burton, the creative director for Alexander McQueen. Fashion designer Oscar de la Renta said that “she had a perfect dress, a very traditional dress for a very traditional wedding.“ Kate was wearing McQueen also for the evening celebration, while her bridesmaid Pippa also wore Burton’s creation.
Kate Middleton's wedding and party dress, Pippa Middleton's dress for the wedding ceremony
REVERSE PRODUCT PLACEMENT OF THE YEAR
Dunder Mifflin is a fictional paper company from the US version of the TV show The Office. NBC used the success of the show and started selling actual products with the Dunder Mifflin logo as souvenirs, e.g. branded T-shirts, mugs, calendars and other items.
However, in November American office supply chain store Staples announced that they will start selling their own Dunder Mifflin products, but not official merchandise, but rather an actual Dunder Mifflin paper. They will sell it under the license from NBC’s parent company, Comcast. You can also buy Dunder Mifflin paper on Staples’ website Quill.com.
The Dunder Mifflin deal is a great example of reverse product placement, with Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurants the most notable example.
THE MOST UNEXPECTED AND CLEVERLY EXECUTED PRODUCT PLACEMENT OF THE YEAR
Marshawn Lynch is an American football running back for the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL. He was drafted as 12th in 2007 NFL draft by Buffalo Bills and was selected to his first Pro Bowl in 2008. Lynch is also known for his off-the-field antics: he was the victim of mistaken identity when some unknown attacker shot at his car outside his high school alma mater, he was accused (but never arrested or charged) of sexual assault by his former girlfriend, he was investigated for his involvement in a hit and run accident that occurred in Buffalo …
Lynch is also known for his love of Applebees, a restaurant chain, and eating Skittles, a habit which started in high school (he has said that his mom used to feed him the candy in high school). He frequently eats candies during games and on December 1 Lynch was shown eating the candy after touchdown vs Philadelphia Eagles at a nationally-televised game.
Right after the game Skittles people offered him a two-year supply of Skittles and a customized dispenser for his locker. And later on Twitter, the brand posted an explanation for Lynch’s great game on its Twitter feed:
“Does he run that fast because he knows people are after his Skittles?”
Great move by Skittles.
PRODUCT PLACEMENT THAT WILL BE BIG IN 2012
50 Cent is next in the line of celebrities who started their own business. First it was Dr. Dre with his Beats by Dre headphones and 50 Cent wanted his share of the headphones market. His collaboration with Sleek Audio ended unsuccessfully in the middle of this year, but in autumn rapper announced that he will try for the second time. He established the company called SMS Audio and launched two headphones models: wireless Sync by 50 and wired Street by 50.
As I predicted 50 Cent will use product placement heavily in order to promote his headphones. We could’ve seen them in Hot Rod’s video Hot Girl, Jasmine V.’s video for the song Just a Friend and Lea’s video November Skies. I’m sure he’ll soon place his headphones in some more prominent artist’s video. And that will be just the beginning.
Street by 50 headphones in Lea's music video November Skies (2011, G-Note Records, screen capture)
Do you agree with Brands&Films’ awards? Yes/no? I’d love to hear your comments…
“Corporations have no friends. They have employees. Employees who are paid to blindly care about their company and what it is about. At Kanon, we are a group of people who have built a product on passion. From the farmers who grow the local organic wheat we use, to our distillery; Sweden’s only sustainable and one of the few conscious distilleries on Earth. We are working together to make a product that we are all proud of and that even in some small way, improves the world. This same attitude is carried out with how we spread our message. We want to work with friends not employees. Friends who are also passionate about what they do. These “Friends Of Kanon” share our passion for making great things, changing the world, saving the planet, entertaining each other and creating beautiful moments.”
If you managed to read everything, you’re probably thinking the same as me: »Is this real? Does that kind of companies really exist or is this some corporate bulls**t?
Kanon Organic Vodka is produced in Gripsholm Distillery in Åkers Styckebruk, some 70 kilometers (43 miles) west of Stockholm, Sweden. It was built in 1580 and around 1770 it was one of the biggest distilleries in Sweden, with a yearly production of more than one million liters of vodka and with 300 employees. Because of a new state alcohol monopoly the distillery was then closed for 200 years, only to be rebuilt in 2008 with the production capacity of 10,000 bottles per day.
You probably know that the biggest and most famous Swedish distillery is Absolut Vodka. It was established in 1879, but sold to Pernod Ricard in 2008. According to Wikipedia Absolut is the third largest brand of alcoholic spirits in the world after Bacardi and Smirnoff, and is sold in 126 countries. In 2008 they produced 96.6 million liters of vodka.
Lykke Li on Kanon's website
So, what did Kanon Organic Vodka do to stand out from the crowded spirits market? At the beginning they were oriented towards fashion industry and sponsored a series of fashion events and fashion dinner parties for fashion people. Kanon has become some sort of sponsor of the young, hip fashion crowd. They somehow moved away from being strictly a liquor company and Peter Wijk, USA President of Kanon, admitted that it all happened “organically.”
Their invasion in US fashion began in 2010 when they organized a party at Coachella music festival together with American fashion designer Chrissie Miller and her brand Sophomore. That party started the Friends Of Kanon project also known as FOK. Peter Wijk explained that after that party Kanon began collaborating with people who shared their passion for what they do and fashion was just a natural choice.
Kanon’s main focus is of course building brand awareness and making their products more available. I’ve made one simple and short survey among my colleagues. I’ve asked them to name 5 Swedish pop stars and 5 Swedish brands. Here are the results from my mini survey:
Results of ultra mini survey among my friends
As you could expected no one mentioned Kanon, however for one person the top of mind answer was Absolut. Kanon has some very powerful competitors so it must be extra creative if it wants to become an important or distinguished player in the spirits market.
Friends of Kanon (FOK) project is a step in the right direction. Currently there are 71 friends of Kanon. Probably the most famous are: the aforementioned Chrissie Miller, British actor sir Ben Kingsley, Swedish pop star Lykke Li, photographer Yvan Rodic also known as the Facehunter, fashion designer Alexander Wang, singer in the band Little Joy Binki Shapiro and many more. You can check other members of FOK family on Kanon’s official web page.
Lykke Li, live at Popaganda festival in Stockholm on 27th August 2011 (photo by Erik R.)
For me this project is interesting because I’m a fan of Lykke Li and was curious if Kanon would also use product placement as a promotional tool. As far as I know they only put one bottle of vodka in Lykke Li’s video Sadness is a Blessing. I’ve asked Kanon via Twitter if they used product placement anywhere else, but haven’t got any reply (yet).
Kanon Organic Vodka in Lykke Li's music video “Sadness is a Blessing” (2011, LL, screen capture)
In the recent months and years, some of the biggest and most aggressive brands of spirits used product placement as an important piece of their promotion. The first brand that comes to mind is Pitbull’s brand Voli, which appeared in several of his videos and sometimes looked like a forced placement.
However, it looks like that Kanon chose a different, albeit less direct route to its (potential) customers. But that route is much more positive and much more interesting. Thumbs up!
