1. Introduction
Since the invention of personal video recorder (PVR) such as TiVo which enable consumers to zip and zap 30 seconds commercials on TV, the effectiveness of traditional advertisements has fallen. Advertisers now realise that they need to find more effective ways to expose their message to the consumers. Recently, the phenomenon of product placement has become popular among the marketers and advertisement agencies. They have come to recognize that the consumer is more likely to accept product placement in movies compared to traditional advertisements. Therefore, there is no doubt that product placement has a huge probability of success as a marketing tool, as a substitute for the ineffective traditional advertising.
Although some people argue that product placement has many negative effects on the consumer such as endorsement of tobacco and alcohol shown in the movie, there is strong evidence that product placement carries a big benefits such as increasing of sales of products and services, enlarging brand awareness of the products or services and attracting audience’s attention. This essay will argue that product placement as a marketing tool has many advantages which indeed outweigh the drawbacks.
Product placement is defined as an introduction of the products or services to the consumer by using television and cinema as the media (Nebenzahl & Secunder, cited in Drennan and McDonnell, 2005). Also, Gupta & Gould (cited in Drennan and McDonnell, 2005) define product placement in more detail as “incorporating brands in movies in return for money or for some promotional or other consideration”. In the recently released Hollywood movie Iron Man 2, it is clear that the product placement is being used when Tony Stark drives an Audi R8 Spyder car. In the movie the Devil Wears Prada many products are placed prominently such as Mercedes Benz cars, Prada bags, Starbucks, Clinique,