“All these stupid ads!”
Audiences have been commenting on how they can easily tell that a part of the movie is being dedicated to a company’s product. Many students and teachers at Rancho Cucamonga High School observed that it has become more obvious since product placement’s first appearance in the 1896 film “Washing Day in Switzerland” directed by the Lumière brothers. In this film, the Lever Brothers’ Sunlight Soap was featured with product labels clearly facing the camera.
Many have recognized specific pieces of film with obvious product placement, and there are many people commenting on online platforms criticizing that movies now sometimes feel like advertisements. With the addition of embedded advertisements to streaming platforms such as Netflix and Hulu, many believe product placement is unnecessary.
Specifically, Washington University professor, Mr. Ambar Rao, elaborated on the topic in the article “Product placement becomes part of the plot” by Stephanie Clifford of the New York Times.
“People watch a show for entertainment, and if they’re constantly being reminded that somebody has paid for this product or that product, it just takes away from the experience,” Rao said in the interview with The New York Times.
Another reason students find issues with product placement is that the storyline becomes forced in parts around product placement segments. Product placement is meant to be seamless with the film’s storyline and purpose, but in many films, people find it disconnected from the film’s time and place. An example of this can be found in “Stranger Things” with the brands Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, and Eggo. Long-time “Stranger Things” fans noticed and criticized the more obvious product placement in the newest season.
RCHS AP Language teacher, Ms. Megan Womack, shared her take on this series.
“I know it was a huge discussion with the latest season of ‘Stranger Things,’ and because my boys had listened to people talking about all the product placement, when we watched the final few episodes, it was very apparent to me, but that was because I was looking for it,” Womack said.
Product placement isn’t just controversial on the consumer level but also on a creative level. To place products in movies, they have to be written into scripts and have to be incorporated by the film directors. Although they do save the company money, the director now shoulders the work to divert scripts to include these different brands.
Junior Jochebed Lindarto, a member of the RCHS TV Video Bulletin, added her thoughts on different problems that could arise when directors are forced to make changes to their original vision for a film.
“I think product placement can create conflict for the directors because sometimes the director has a certain image, and it can’t really be fulfilled to the T because of it. Sometimes it’s just a hassle to rewrite things to fit advertising in,” Lindarto said.
