How much does product placement ruin your immersion?

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

There's a difference between showing people using everyday products, some of which have brands because why wouldn't they, and having scenes clearly set-up to put a certain brand on display. Man of Steel is fucking egregious when it comes to the latter.

How egregious was it really because all I saw was IHOP? And it just happened to be there when fighting in an average American suburb.

I mean it wasn't like Power Rangers where Krispy Kreame was actually relevent to the fucking plot.

 

[Casual Shinji]

There's a difference between showing people using everyday products, some of which have brands because why wouldn't they, and having scenes clearly set-up to put a certain brand on display. Man of Steel is fucking egregious when it comes to the latter.

How egregious was it really because all I saw was IHOP? And it just happened to be there when fighting in an average American suburb.

There's also the scene where the camera looks up to female bad guy lady, and what a coincidence, there's a big Sears logo right over her shoulder. Oh and even more of a coincidence, Supes' mom works at Sears and is conveniently wearing a Sears uniform when Lois comes to question her. You also forgot IHOP getting a distinctive name drop earlier in the movie. Then there's Lois' camera and everyone's phone getting purposely centered in the frame so we get a nice clean shot of what brand they belong to.

 

[Zontar]

Product placement is a catch 22, people only notice it when it's done badly, and when that happens they tend to dislike what they're watching. Then again it is trying to take advantage of the Mere Exposure Effect.

That being said it's funny to think about moments that seem like product placement that turned out not to be, such as this moment from The Expanse.

Hard to believe as it may seem, that wasn't product placement and was instead a case of the writers asking the company to use their logo to make the place feel more real. Which I find odd, since while FedEx is definitely the most recognisable of its contemporaries, with the exception of the USPS it has by far the worst work ethic and business practices in the industry. Of all the major air shipping companies, none are less likely to be around in 300 years then FedEx.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

There's a difference between showing people using everyday products, some of which have brands because why wouldn't they, and having scenes clearly set-up to put a certain brand on display. Man of Steel is fucking egregious when it comes to the latter.

How egregious was it really because all I saw was IHOP? And it just happened to be there when fighting in an average American suburb.

There's also the scene where the camera looks up to female bad guy lady, and what a coincidence, there's a big Sears logo right over her shoulder. Oh and even more of a coincidence, Supes' mom works at Sears and is conveniently wearing a Sears uniform when Lois comes to question her. You also forgot IHOP getting a distinctive name drop earlier in the movie. Then there's Lois' camera and everyone's phone getting purposely centered in the frame so we get a nice clean shot of what brand they belong to.

Now I didn't notice and never bothered by the Cameras and Phones.

Sears and IHOP I understand but at the very least it was all in Smallvielle giving it a sense of place. Its a suburb that happend to have IHOP and Sears.

At the very least there was a variety in the product placement compared to Amazing Spiderman 2's Sony exclusive world which feels even more blatent to me.

 

[Palindromemordnilap_v1legacy]

Honestly don't seem to notice a lot of the product placement other people find annoying. Maybe I just tune it out?

 

[Zeraki]

As long as it feels organic and they don't use weird camera angles to focus on logos and products *cough*Transformers*cough*Man of Steel*cough* I don't mind it. The Blade Runner movies are among some of my favorites, but the product placement doesn't feel as jarring because it's actually integrated into the world in a way that's not obnoxious.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Honestly don't seem to notice a lot of the product placement other people find annoying. Maybe I just tune it out?

I mostly tune out of it aswell unless its really obvious.

Infact I only find out afterwards through the internet.

 

[09philj]

Anyone using a MacBook in a professional context instantly weirds me out.

 

[Myria]

I generally don't notice, or, at least, care. The Supe's IHOP thing was more than a bit egregious, but it's one of the few I recall offhand.

Except... Krispy Kreme.

Granted, Power Rangers wasn't a great movie even without that, though it does have a bit of "so bad it's good" appeal if I'm in the right mood, but the Krispy Kreme thing over and over and over and over was just weird.

Maybe it's just me, but the only Krispy Kremes I've ever seen in real life were in Japan and Thailand. Oddly there's quite a few American brands I've only ever actually seen in Asia, but for all I knew Krispy Kreme wasn't even in business in the US anymore, and here it becomes a central plot point of a big budget flop.

 

[Dalisclock]

Honestly don't seem to notice a lot of the product placement other people find annoying. Maybe I just tune it out?

I know the feeling. I remember when I used to watch 24 and people would point out how every season everyone would drive whatever car got the licensing deal this year(I think it was normally Ford SUVs). Except all I really noticed is that they drive big black SUVs because apparently that's what paramilitary government agencies do(and Humvees are way too big and fuel guzzling to drive around LA).

Maybe I was just distracted by Kiefer Sutherland shouting at and trying to torture everyone when I'm not wondering why he's not guzzling coffee after the 2nd half the season.

 

[CaitSeith]

It depends how familiar I'm with the product in question, how much in the nose is the fact it's there just for advertisement and how much it doesn't fit the game's context.

Spoiler

Cup Noodle name is so straightforward that sounds almost fictional. Considering the setting, having noodles available in FFXV doesn't sound far fetched.

But then they had to go from subtle to shameless with Gladio's quest.


"Perhaps we truly can't improve upon perfection". It's so cringy that it's funny.

 

[Natemans]

Oh man, I just remembered the bit in the 4th Transformers movie. https://youtu.be/ARqfjcopqdE?t=146

 

[TrulyBritish]

There's a difference between showing people using everyday products, some of which have brands because why wouldn't they, and having scenes clearly set-up to put a certain brand on display. Man of Steel is fucking egregious when it comes to the latter.

How egregious was it really because all I saw was IHOP? And it just happened to be there when fighting in an average American suburb.

There's also the scene where the camera looks up to female bad guy lady, and what a coincidence, there's a big Sears logo right over her shoulder. Oh and even more of a coincidence, Supes' mom works at Sears and is conveniently wearing a Sears uniform when Lois comes to question her. You also forgot IHOP getting a distinctive name drop earlier in the movie. Then there's Lois' camera and everyone's phone getting purposely centered in the frame so we get a nice clean shot of what brand they belong to.

Now I didn't notice and never bothered by the Cameras and Phones.

Sears and IHOP I understand but at the very least it was all in Smallvielle giving it a sense of place. Its a suburb that happend to have IHOP and Sears.

At the very least there was a variety in the product placement compared to Amazing Spiderman 2's Sony exclusive world which feels even more blatent to me.

I think this conversation also leads into another issue why some people aren't bothered with product placement as much as others: Not knowing the brands.
As a brit, I've never seen an IHOP or even a Sears I think in my area, so when those brands showed up in MoS I never really gave it any thought, but it's not a band I'd recognise anyway. It may as well be "generic-store-brand no4" for me.

 

[Elijin]

I've never understood people's attitude towards Krispy Kreme in Power Rangers. Acting like it was integral to the plot. It was incidental to the plot. It was a gag. The building could have been a library, a police station, an orphanage or a slum. Kripy Kreme offered no plot driving, no special treatment or real interaction. It was a running joke to 'protect the Krispy Kreme'.

I dont understand people who straight faced present the product tie in as important to the plot. It was a location. In fact, doesnt it actually get levelled, to dig down to the stuff under it?

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

If it's done this blatantly, then it ruins things.

That said, the Bond films also rely on certain brands as part of the scene setting - the way it's always an Aston Martin, for instance.

Like.. I get what you're saying. But also, she's dressing him down. Saying he's all style with no substance. I don't know how glowing that is.


The fact that he doesn't even name her obviously stunning attire means that it was beneath his realm of knowledge. Vesper told him that he wears these things as a shield, but with contempt. That... actually sucks.

 

[CaitSeith]

If it's done this blatantly, then it ruins things.

That said, the Bond films also rely on certain brands as part of the scene setting - the way it's always an Aston Martin, for instance.

"Rolex?

"Omega"

"Beautiful!"

LOL. This makes me think, how did the trope "Rolex is the most luxurious wristwatch brand" became part of the public consciousness?

 

[Catnip1024]

LOL. This makes me think, how did the trope "Rolex is the most luxurious wristwatch brand" became part of the public consciousness?

Through copious product placement, most likely...

 

[Catnip1024]

Like.. I get what you're saying. But also, she's dressing him down. Saying he's all style with no substance. I don't know how glowing that is.


The fact that he doesn't even name her obviously stunning attire means that it was beneath his realm of knowledge. Vesper told him that he wears these things as a shield, but with contempt. That... actually sucks.

To give them some credit, they have at least taken the effort to merge it into the story. But the fact that it stuck out the very first time I watched the film, above and beyond pretty much any other Bond moment par possibly the cars, to me indicates product placement.

Blade Runner is another that uses product placement quite seamlessly with the story. I mean, if he hadn't been driving a French flying car, he wouldn't have had those electrical problems and crashed...

 

[Abomination]

LOL. This makes me think, how did the trope "Rolex is the most luxurious wristwatch brand" became part of the public consciousness?

The answer is literally in the youtube clip

Marketing.

 

[CaitSeith]

LOL. This makes me think, how did the trope "Rolex is the most luxurious wristwatch brand" became part of the public consciousness?

Through copious product placement, most likely...

I wonder if the trope of man in a trenchcoat selling fake Rolex watches on the street was also result of product placement or if it was actually common on the cities.