While traditional advertising expenditures continue to increase every year to extremely high levels, innovators are taking advertising in a whole different direction with the use of product placement. With the increase in technology and the growth of television in the past thirty years, more and more people are being exposed to vast amounts of media coverage every day. The television industry, in particular, has emerged as a top means for advertising. Through media avenues such as TV shows and movies, companies are modifying their image, by means of persuasive view advertising, in an effort to increase the consumers’ utility in purchasing the product. Sounds complicated, but in essence, all the company is doing is developing a cool factor for their products that consumers pick up on whether they like it or not.
While instances where companies pay high prices and set up contracts with TV and production companies to have their products placed in media(i.e. Norelco 8894XL in the James Bond film, Pepsi in Austin Powers Goldmember), some companies are getting loads of exposure at no cost. Apple computers products were mentioned over 250 times on television in one studied four month period. On the hit TV show “The Office”, Apple racked up more than four minutes of free exposure to audiences. Other shows such as CBS's "CSI: NY," Fox's "24" and NBC's "Las Vegas," also prominently displayed products throughout their showing times. In older episodes of 24, it can be noticed the high occurrence of bad guys using PC and Windows and the good guys using apple products…go get ‘em Bauer.
With this advertising market gaining popularity, one would think that Apple and other companies would devote more resources to obtaining more product placement at low or no costs. We imagine that this free advertising won’t last long and that a structured market will result in the future. But for now, it seems the Apple is the victor of the free advertising game.
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Apple computers and other freely advertised products are not so much 'placed' as they are incorporated for their social currency and the stereotypes their brand offers. Having the CTU use Apples is an easy way to show they are the 'goodies' and that the others, by contrast, are 'baddies.' This is to say that perhaps the 'free-riding' on the brand by the media creators as a communicative shortcut may well be their payment. If their use of the brand is not reinforcing what the product's company is shooting for, product placement revenues (or even product inclusion approval) proves hard to come by, as was the case with the Ron Howard movie, EDtv.
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