More Brand Name Madness

March 31st, 2005 · 1 Comment
by Booksquare

Reader Susan Gable suggested she might be available for a little product placement work (not that she’s selling her soul to the corporate devil, but a girl needs to upgrade her home network every now and then). It’s not like this is a new concept, but we suspect there will be increased opportunities presented to writers as advertisers seek new ways to seduce dollars out of consumers. While patronage with strings has a long tradition in the arts world, we wonder if the proliferation of brand names in the media has already numbed the audience. After all, do you buy Prada just because a character in a book wears it?

File Under: Square Pegs

1 response so far ↓

  • Susan Gable // Mar 31, 2005 at 12:41 pm

    In that article someone comments that consumers aren’t “going to know when they’re being” pitched – or something like that, anyway.

    To which I say, get real. Of course they do. We all know that Clorox bleach wipes PAY to be on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and that Pringles PAYS to be on Survivor, that Toyota PAID to be allowed to give away new cars on Amazing Race the other night. What do we look like, a bunch of dummies out here? (Hmmm…maybe better not answer that question.)

    I do have to say, I’m finding it reaching the point of annoying on tv shows. (Just like I absolutely HATE being forced to watch ads before movies now. I don’t mind the still slides so much, but those dang ads drive me NUTS! For this I’m paying good money? To be forced to sit through ads?)

    So maybe I don’t want to sell a spot in my book. Besides, who will tell me what my characters have to eat? It’s one thing if *I* get to be the one in charge, and can pick things that actually make sense to my characters. It’s another thing entirely if someone else in the publishing chain tells me that I have to include a scene with X, Y, and Z products. I don’t know how I’d like that.