Product Placement In Motion Pictures

The term ‘product placement’ was not used until the late 1980’s and it was defined as placing in, a brand or logo in media content. “Prior to that, terms such as exploitation, tie-ups, and tie-ins, were used to represent product placement. The term “exploitation” was used to represent a kind of publicity that might generate attendance. Slowly, the term evolved to “tie-ups” and “tie-ins advertising” which meant that the actor had to endorse a product on-screen or off-screen or both, and the return on investment was free props” (Kit, P’ng, 139). When we study the origins of product placement, we generally think its relation with motion pictures. However, it includes a more meticulous study of the history of communication, as there are also examples of where product placement was present in stage performances, which came before motion pictures “well before the cinema, cabaret and actors of all genres used product placement for brands that also used them occasionally as advertising spokespersons” (Lehu, 17). Hence, an example of product placement can be …show more content…
(Williams, Petrosky, Hernandez & Page, 3). In other words motion pictures, “product placement was initially the result of intermarrying family ties with business but quickly transformed into a method of reducing the cost of motion picture production while providing no-cost exposure for product” (Newell, Salmon, & Chang, 1). Product placement is a widely recognized practice that integrates into the storylines, verbally referred to by characters in the movies, appropriate to the movie scenes, and containing implied endorsements by the actors than product placements. “There is no better way to reach the audience, than to place a product in the hands of stars, who the audience views with dreamy eyes and who possess an incredible power to influence consumer behavior” (Gokhale,