Media Maddie
Media can change the world
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Dr. Pepper Presents:
90210
Product placement was a new concept to me until after watching the Greatest Movie Ever Sold. Since then I have seen nothing but unsubtle hints to buy certain products throughout some of my favorite TV shows, series, and movies.
I have recently been watching a series on Netflix called, 90210. While watching this show I noticed a large presence of prominently presented and positioned products. This strange yet not uncommon way of advertising is called product placement.
A lot of 90210 is funded by the products promoted in the show. Dr. Pepper was just one of many products that are marketed through the TV series. Other brands commonly promoted is Lexus, state farm, and a variation of mascara and phone brands
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Dr. Pepper in specific was inserted into many different scenes during the first season of 90210. The popular soda drink is advertised well in the local café in the series and expressed as a “refreshing beverage” during a road trip scene with two of the main characters. I would expect this product to be in these typical places where it isn’t odd to find a beverage but where characters have a choice of choosing a product and they choose the Dr. Pepper, giving audiences a “read between the lines” effect and indirectly saying to choose Dr. Pepper.
I thought the placement was actually rather obnoxious. I am constantly surrounded by ads on TV and everywhere I look, sometimes TV shows especially binge watching on Netflix is an escape from the ads, but in this show it is not. If the product placement was a little more subtle then for me personally it would have been more effective. However I understand the “in your face” method may work on many and that may have been the route the company decided to present itself as in the series. In fact many spoofs have been made to poke fun of how obnoxious many of the product placement in 90210 is.
The advertisers of Dr. Pepper, used the show to promote their product due to the popularity of the show. The audience they were targeting was youthful and very easily influenced youth. Also the strategy of using celebrities to promote product is notable in this way of advertising.
Reflection:
Dr. Pepper’s current campaign is more of an ad based one with ads on basic TV commercials, paper, and internet based displays. They are still promoting their products with famous celebrities and music, and have recently announced their continuation of this campaign for another year. The campaign is titled “one to one” and focuses on celebrating individualism and truly one of a kind people, just like Dr. Pepper is a one of a kind drink.
In conclusion I think Dr. Pepper has done a good job in knowing the audience they can relate to the audience that will be loyal and purchase their product. They have appeared to stick with methods of using celebrities and popular media figures to rein in this target audience. Dr. Pepper has built a name for itself and has remained somewhat consistent in how they market their product to their customers.Learning about product placement educated me about the process of how advertising and marketing funds movies, TV shows and series, and even stadiums and stores. After watching the Pom Wonderful, Greatest Movie Ever Sold, I was able to grasp the different strategies of how PR reps for companies promote their products. For my project I chose to analyze and discuss product placement in the popular TV show 90210. 90210 is notorious for using obnoxious product placement through their series. I went into depth on the placement of Dr. Pepper, as it was marketed prominently in season one. After doing my 500 piece write up I realized just how distracting some of the ads in this series are throughout the entire show. However I understand the need for marketing certain products and gaining money to produce the show. I actually discovered that 25% of the show was funded by the product placement used. I now am more aware of the placement of products in movies, and shows. The products that are altered or logos are blurred out have not given producers to be promoted in their productions, however the logos and products that are positioned perfectly or used prominently are the products that are paying producers to promote their product for them. This strategy is a tactic to have celebrities or prevalent people in the media to use a product and hopefully spark a consumer to also want to use the product and purchase it. I am not a fan of SUPER obvious product placement in my beloved TV shows as I often try to escape advertising, especially on Netflix, however I understand the concept and believe it to be beneficial in many ways.