Posted in Books, Movies, Televison, Uncategorized, Zombies

The True Cost of Advertising

Posted on by D. Parker

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What
is
the
true
cost
of
advertising?

 

 

 

For starters, we pay a lot more for products and services to pay for advertising. So you pay to hear about something then you pay more to buy it. Brilliant.

Product placement and advertising have been around since the dawn of entertainment…I’m not swayed by either and I know people have to pay the bills, but it’s sometimes annoying; distracting from the TV show, books, movie; and can diminish the entertainment value.
For me advertisements are a perfect time for household chores, checking my email, reading, writing, exercising, visiting the privy, turning to another channel and forgetting what I was watching, etc. I don’t believe advertisers, so if I watch ads it’s only for entertainment.

Since the surge in streaming, DVDs, PVRs, etc. the TV industry has gone a little over-the-top with product placement to in-series advertising.1brand19

No matter your economic or social standing, you have Apple products, or you should have them, or at least that’s what they want you to believe.

In-series advertising is intrusive. A show stopper. It seems out of character for Temperance Brennan (Bones) to go into a spiel about how the car she’s driving can parallel park itself.

I tried to watch the first episode of The Mysteries of Laura which was actually a giant advertisement for Target and creepily over-focused on the children after a bath in Underoos of Batman and Superman.

Considering they’re Under the Dome there’s a lot of product placement, and they get the internet just long enough to do full-blown ads for the Surface Pro…At least it’s good for a laugh, my son was joking that they’ll be advertising for CLR next season – Dome getting stained, smudged, and covered in bloody handprints? New CLR for Domes will clean your Dome, no muss, no fuss, no streaks. Available at stores, inside and outside the Dome.

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When I watch TV I want to be entertained…I want to try to solve the crime, see who wins the battle, travel in time, watch love, loss, redemption, hope…I want to see the stories unfold.

It’s fine to see Rick, Michonne, and Carl driving in a Hyundai, another for them to discuss how fast it can drive over zombies and the traction it can get despite the ooze. Maybe a new Hyundai shows that South Korea wasn’t hit by the zombie virus.

1brand1It’s one thing to see Bates using shoe polish on Downton Abbey, another for him to start peddling the product.1brand24Red using a smartphone, sure; explaining how he can upload The Blacklist to The Cloud, no.1brand25

Placing a product in a TV show, book, or movie if done subtly is a necessary evil, but when someone starts selling those items during the program that’s intrusive.

There’s a time and a place for everything. If it you can’t work it seamlessly into the story, don’t do it.
If I wanted to watch advertising I could, it’s literally everywhere. On the internet, phones, TV, books, songs, movies, clothes, charity events, public transit, billboards, amusement parks, sports events, concerts, in stores, everywhere, some day I expect to swim to the bottom of the local pool and see a Bounty ad painted on the bottom explaining how absorbent they are.

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Now they’ve found a new way to trick people, Native Advertising, just another term for sneaky. Companies purchase ad space and news outlets pay someone to write a content piece that looks, for all intents and purposes like a real editorial piece, but it’s not, it’s ad space in disguise. A majority of people can’t tell if they’re reading a real weight loss article or an ad for Weight Watchers and that’s exactly what they want. A story about how smartphones help your children learn or an ad for a smartphone. It’s a brand new way to lie to the public.

Personally, I find myself disliking products that intrude on my entertainment, books, TV, movies. It should be my choice.

The true cost of advertising? No escape.1brand6

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Very me

40 thoughts on “The True Cost of Advertising”

  1. When my kids were young I had them watch a short video called “Buy Me That” and we have always taken note of product placement and how advertisers sell. I am proud to say that both my kids are savvy shoppers.

    This video is not the one my kids watched but it is close:

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      1. Sometimes I have to turn up the volume of what I’m watching and the commercials blare like a bull horn. Haven’t you noticed, commercials are still louder than regular programming even if you don’t have to turn some up?

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      2. Yes, and here in Canada there was a regulation put in place about the volume of commercials, you can guess how it worked. They turned them down briefly, then turned them back up, nobody did anything so we’re right back at blaring commercials. Just makes me press Mute and walk away until the show comes back on. 🙂

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  3. Okay, first off, I remember that scene in Bones! And yes, I’ll take product placement, I’ll take the fact that I can see what cereal they eat, but when I actually NOTICE, then it’s gone too far and it really turns me off. I can handle, “Here, let’s take the Lexus” but it drives me nuts for the whole, my car can parallel park itself.

    And, I watched Th Mysteries of Laura, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why, after the bath, she put them in their underroos, pajamas, etc, and then they go downstairs for dinner, but don’t eat, and then she tells them to go get in their pajamas. Weren’t they wearing pajamas? What mom puts their kids in clothes just to change them 5 min later?!?

    Now it makes sense! LOL.

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    1. That scene in Bones was memorable because it didn’t make sense, at all, right?
      Yes, they should only do product placement subtly or integrate it appropriately.
      I felt like in The Mysteries of Laura were so busy trying to figure out a way to insert advertising they lost track of the show…there were many inconsistencies, it was disappointing because I like Debra Messing usually. It will be a mystery if it stays on the air. 😉

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  4. Being an informed consumer who understands the different techniques that are used to influence decision-making is key.
    It’s so important with kids too. I almost wish that this subject and personal finance were mandatory starting in grade school.
    Nice post.

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    1. Well, WordPress is fairly easy, if they don’t change things, which sometimes they do.
      They also have a lot of support available.
      I just learned most of it by trail and error and with advice I found around.
      Keep it simple. I didn’t even buy my domain name right away.
      Start slow.
      Connect with other bloggers – the bloggers here on WordPress are phenomenal, it really is like a family. For me, the best part of the whole blogging experience has been finding all these amazing bloggers, readers.
      Not difficult to set up, so jump right in, the water’s fine.
      Let me know when you have one and we can become followers (they really should come up with a term that doesn’t sound so cult-like). 🙂
      Hope that helped. 🙂

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  7. I totally empathize with your sentiments regarding product placement. But, considering production and sponsorship constraints, sometimes the filmmakers and TV show creators – especially in the case of big budget productions – don’t really have a choice. However, I do feel they should do it more surreptitiously. Well written, you make some really valid points.

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      1. Absolutely, subtelty is what most of them need to learn. What they don’t realizer is that going overboard with it just to please the corporate honchos, ultimately detracts their own hard work.

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  8. I think the need for product placement is my fault, since I always record stuff on commercial TV and then watch it later without the ads (sorry!). I refuse to spend an hour of my life watching a programme which is only 40 minutes long.

    I remember the episode of Bones you mentioned – it was totally weird. I almost expected her to turn towards the camera and hold up a brochure 🙂

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    1. I never like to sit for that long so I actually enjoy the commercials, it gives me a break and I get a lot done during them, but I get why people record it, stream it or buy DVDs, commercials are loud lies. lol
      It wouldn’t have shocked me if Bones had held up a brochure, I’m glad to see I wasn’t the only one who felt it was weird, a few people remember it far too well. Thanks for dropping by. 🙂

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      1. The ad breaks in the UK are generally around 4 minutes each, so there’s not a lot of time to do anything. Any longer and they figure people will wander off I suspect.

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      2. They seem anywhere from 3-5 minutes here…Washing dishes, putting in a load of laundry, sweeping the floors, it’s a long list; it’s a habit I got into as a child because commercials annoyed me even then. I guess some things never change. 😉

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  9. Reblogged this on A Momma's View and commented:
    Advertising sneaks up on you if you want it or not. Just look at good old Santa and his typical red “uniform”. Coca Cola did an amazing job and actually lead us to believe that this kind of Santa is the real deal…

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    1. Yes, indeed, it’s everywhere, pretty soon they’ll just implant chips in our head to advertise right to our brains. lol I laugh because it’s a tad worrying. 😉
      Thanks for the reblog, I couldn’t find the page, but it’s the thought that counts, very kind of you. 🙂
      Hope this new year is being good to you so far. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

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