Eureka...You REEK-ah!

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm an MBA (among other things), so I realize that most commercial broadcast TV survives on the strength of advertising dollars, and that the advent of things like DVRs means its harder and harder to get the viewing public to see your commercials.

The little crawls and icons that appear at the bottom of shows you're watching seemed to me to be an acceptable solution, even if some do go a bit far- too much animation at the bottom of the screen is distracting.

Product placement is another time-honored trick, and I can get behind that as well. It was even used well in mockery in the brilliant but short lived Arrested Development.

But when you have a TV show that is actively using not just product placement but some of the actual product slogans as part of a show's dialog? AAAAAAAARRRRRGH!

The latest season of Eureka used Degree deodorant product placement and marketing lingo in its show several times. There is a lab where they're using the stuff for research, and the extras have "Degree" jumpers on.

This, I find sickening.

Has anyone else seen anything like this elsewhere?

 

[Hand of Evil]

Married with Chidren and the Simpson have always poked fun of their network Fox but that is nothing like the Degree placements, which I too found wrong. Sure, I have no problem with them saying product names but this was different.

While not jumping the shark, it needs to be called something.

 

[Mark]

Let's call it "Humping the Boss."

 

[dravot]

I understand that an episode of 30 Rock featured someone with their arm stuck in a vending machine, trying to get a loose bottle of something called Soy Joy, which is a real product.

Later in the show, the characters are watching a reality TV show similar to Survivor, and that reality show is sponsored by Soy Joy.

So, you have a fictional show (30 Rock) featuring a fictional reality show sponsored by a real product.

Time travel makes my head hurt less.

As far as Eureka and Degree, I'm not sure that whatever cash they got in return for the placement was worth it. Production values didn't seem any different to me.

 

[Sir Brennen]

"Smallville" a season or two ago was sponsored by Stride gum, with an abandoned Stride warehouse still full of product being used for a rave, and the sponsor's gum getting infected with kryptonite was a major plot element!

 

[LightPhoenix]

As far as Eureka and Degree, I'm not sure that whatever cash they got in return for the placement was worth it. Production values didn't seem any different to me.

Unless, of course, they're getting less money from SFC, in which case the product placement offset the loss, resulting in the same production values. This is why I believe it was done in the first place.

My reasoning on it is that for TV writers/director, they're heavily dependant on the quality of their product. Thus, presented with a shrinking budget, they were left with three options:

1) Let the show be cancelled. This is not an attractive option in any but the most idealistic of senses. While it may seem romantic that a writer/director would stick to their guns, what is more likely to happen is that someone more pliable is brought in to take your place. A couple of notable examples in the sci-fi genre would be Andromeda and Jeremiah. It's better to have some degree of input, and some degree of income, than to be out on the street with no real product to show.

2) Reduce the production quality of the show. Again, not an attractive option, if your future jobs are based on the production quality of that show.

3) Accept the product placement. While tacky, this preserves the production quality of the show, and everyone's jobs. Clearly this is the best option for all involved.

Now, is Eureka doing it well? Aside from a few well-placed snarky comments, I wouldn't say they were. However, I don't think I can particularly find fault with that, when it was pushed upon them suddenly. Also, given this is SFC we're talking about, I would be inclined to believe it was a push to try and cancel the show. It's unfortunate that the way television is set up, it's very difficult to get a genre show off the ground on one of the major networks (ie, Firefly). That makes SFC a viable alternative, for better or worse.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

I have no idea if this is the case or not but there could be another option that is sort of a combinaion of things. The first 2 seasons were 12-13 episodes long. This season they are going for a full 22 episodes. The show has been one of the top rated shows on Sci-Fi so the likelyhood of cancelation was low. But there may not have been the money to go to a full season so product placement was used to suplement the money Sci-Fi had aleady budgeted for a 12-13 episode season.

 

[Oni]

The one instance of product placement that most clearly sticks out in my mind as being forced and incredibly irritating would be the "vintage" sneakers from the beginning of I, Robot. It still annoys me.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm not so much opposed to product placement- well done, it adds to the reality of the scene. Heck, some of the most amazing product placement was done in 2001: A Space Odyssey, and that was before anyone had figured out how to pay- really, whether to pay- for such use of corporate imagery.

What sets the Eureka stuff apart to me is that its not just placement of the product, its how they're making the product and even some of the marketing slogans an integral part of the show.

Its got to be killing some of the actors.

 

[Mark]

I know it probably is not what the advertisers would want, but shows need to have less intrusive ways to handle product placement, like billboards in driving scenes and televisions on in the background of bar scenes and the like.