And Now, in the Best Product Placement Category
Ok, so we all know the results from last nights’ Oscars: Sandra Bullock was awarded best actress, Jeff Bridges was best actor and Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman to win Best Director. But here’s something that may surprise you that I found while doing a quick scan of the news today.
In the 44 films in 2009 that topped the box office for at least one weekend, an Apple logo or device could be seen in at least 18 of them. (That’s almost 41%.) In some, Apple products even eclipsed their human scene partners.
The Awl put together a great piece examining the popularity of Apple products in film. Not editors, effects specialists, composers, or photographers using Apple products, or even celebrities owning iPhones–but the insane frequency with which Apple shows up in movies, without it being official product placement.
Apple’s Greatest Cinematic Achievements from The Awl on Vimeo.
To the credit of Apple’s designers, they’ve imbued their products with attitude and personality. It comes as no surprise their designs photograph well!
Taking placement one step further, Apple must have had some development deal with the producers of ABC’s “Modern Family.”
Last Wednesday’s episode centered around the acquisition of an iPad (two full days prior to launch) because Phil (Ty Burrell) wanted one for his birthday.
Even in the first 35 seconds, a short-and-sweet pitch is made:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/136819/modern-family-game-changer
Filming locations even included an Apple store.
A shameless plug or deft character-driven product integration? I would argue the latter. It was established several times in the first season that Phil was an early adopter and a lover of gadgets. One episode prominently featured Phil teaching his ditziest daughter how to use the home theater remote.
“The [Apple] store will be getting a new shipment next week.”
“That’s the worst thing you can say to an early adopter!”
For gems like that, I’ll forgive product intrusion.
Comment by Sean Bryan — April 5, 2010 @ 12:00 pm