Product placements creep into TV shows and even movies for children

February 27, 2006 - Detroit Free Press

You can run, but you can't hide -- from advertisers, that is. More and more savvy media users have gadgets that enable them to zap past traditional 30-second TV spots. They listen to devices that provide hours of commercial-free music. And they're just getting hip to product placements, in which advertisers pay to get their brands in movies, songs and TV shows.

Now, big advertisers like Volkswagen and Sprint, desperate to reach these retreating audiences, are sneaking in ad pitches by getting their products in places people might not expect, such as cartoons and comedy shows.
"Advertisers are trying to find ways of reaching potential customers in more clever, effective ways that don't cost too much," said Bill Keep, marketing professor at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. "Product placements have become an increasingly popular way of doing that. Trying to create a buzz about your product through association -- whether through ... entertainment interests or a TV character -- makes sense."

Indeed, creating buzz has become a multibillion-dollar business. According to PQ Media, a Stamford, Conn., research firm, product placements in 2004 were valued at $3.46 billion.

Now that the product placement floodgates have opened, advertisers are looking at other areas that carry more risks.

For instance, advertisers used to consider animated films for kids off limits because of the clamor watchdog groups might raise about marketing to children, but this month "Curious George," a movie for very young children, opened in theaters nationwide and it contains product placements for Volkswagen and Dole.
The movie, based on stories first published in 1941 about misadventures of the Man with the Yellow Hat and his monkey companion George, has one scene in which Curious George relaxes among busted Dole crates with produce splashing out. The Man with the Yellow Hat drives a Volkswagen.

Joel Epstein, a spokesman for Volkswagen, said the car was used in the film as part of a long-term agreement with NBC Universal Pictures. The studio also put the vehicles in "King Kong" and "Herbie: Fully Loaded."
Just as kids' movies were off limits, companies also once shied away from product placements in comedy shows, because of the risks associated with connecting a brand with edgy humor. Toyota recently used product placements in Fox's "MADtv" comedy-variety show to promote the Yaris sedan and hatchback that go on sale in May.

As part of the deal, the series will have five skits -- one each month from January through May -- called "Men About Town." They'll highlight the amusing experiences of two men traveling around Los Angeles in the car.
The first sketch aired Jan. 28 and featured one man teaching another how to drive the car; the second skit that aired on Feb. 18, revolved around the men driving the car and trying to woo women by fibbing.

"We wanted to make sure the comedy wasn't coming from us, but around us," said Rob Donnell, president of Brand Arc, an entertainment agency in Santa Monica, Calif., that represents Toyota. "We didn't want them to disparage us, and they assured us they wouldn't. This was a fresh way to introduce the new car."

Madison Road Entertainment in Los Angeles, a branded entertainment company that has brokered product placement deals for TV shows such as "America's Next Top Model" and "Entertainment Tonight," set "MADtv" up with Toyota. The company brokered a similar deal with Sprint last year, in which comedians imitated people such as President George W. Bush, Connie Chung and Britney Spears making Sprint ring tones.

"Our philosophy is if the brand doesn't make the show better, the brand doesn't make the show," said Jack Severson, Madison's chief executive. "People must not notice the integration, but they must remember it. That's the test."