With all the talk about the recent Superbowl ads and what was effective or not, my pick was not a standard :30 or :60 TV ad at all but a Nike Product placement shot of a pair of Nike cleats that literally had me thinking I needed to buy a new pair of Nike shoes until I realized I was being marketed to. I really, really do need a new pair of sneakers though.
Anyway, I shouted out at the Superbowl party I was at, “nice product placement ” when I realized the marketing brilliance. I did some research online to confirm my suspicions. According to brandchannel.com’s January 41, 2013 post about sports brands, The Super Bowl was the end of the first season for a deal between Nike and the NFL. The famous cleats were Alpha Pro cleat and Vapor Fly glove. Players also wore Nike apparel but I think the cleats were the star of the show.
So, what other brands have done a good job at product placement?
According to a December 11, 2012, theweek.com article, here is a summery of the ten most famous product placements.
1. Junior Mints, Seinfeld
Other candy companies were asked for permission to place their product but declined because they didn’t want their product falling into an open chest cavity of a patient. No money exchanged hands they just gave Seinfeld permission.
2. Reese’s Pieces, E.T.
Hershey spent $1 million promoting E.T. for the rights to use E.T. in their ads. They saw a 65% jump in profits only two weeks after the movie premiere.
3. Ray-Ban, Risky Business
When Tom Cruise sported a pair of Wayfarer sunglasses in Risky Business the brand’s annual sales were only about 18,000. After the movie, sales grew to 360,000. Just six years after that, Ray-Ban had sold more than four million pairs of Wayfarers. Although the sunglasses were sported on Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Bruce Willis in Moonlighting to name a few other placements, it wasn’t until Ray-Ban inked a deal with a product placement company for $50,000 a year that they started seeing results.
4. Fed-Ex, Cast Away
Fed-Ex didn’t pay to be a part of the movie even though they were all over it. At first they were reluctant to allow their image and brand to be used. I bet they’re glad they said yes.
5. Reebok, Jerry Maguire
This is a story of where product placement went bad. Reebok paid 1.5 million in merchandise and ads to be a part of the movie. During the entire movie the brand got disparaged. They were supposed to run a scene at the end to make up for the bashing. Unfortunately, the scene got cut, the movie got slapped with a lawsuit and an out-of-court settlement was reached for an unnamed amount.
6. White Castle, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
White Castle didn’t pay a dime to be a part of the movie but they did agree to promote it through collectible cups, radio ads and signage.
7. Staples, The Office
Staples is The Office’s crew at Dunder-Mifflin’s biggest competitor. They have a product placement deal with the show.
8. BMW Z3, GoldenEye
In 1995, James Bond drove a BMW Z3 Roadster in the movie GoldenEye. The cost, $3 million, but the brand made $240 million in advance sales alone.
9. Slinky, Etch-A-Sketch, Mr. Potato Head, Toy Story
When Toy Story came out in 1995, the above referenced toys weren’t doing very well but after the movie came out and the products were featured the brand’s sales soared. Etch-A-Sketch saw a 4500 percent increase, Slinky’s received 20,000 orders even though they had stopped production, and Mr. Potato Head’s sales boosted 800 percent.
10. Nuprin, Doritos, Pepsi, Pizza Hut, Reebok, Wayne’s World
Wayne’s World came out in 1992 and made a parody of product placement but showed all the brands mentioned above in a segment about not bowing down to sponsors. Effective? Yes.
