On Tuesday, B-don and I were discussing a growing trend in media. “So am I the only one,” he said, “that actually likes product placement in TV shows and movies? I’d much rather see someone drinking a Coke, eating Doritos, and putting Tide into the washing machine than seeing fucking ‘cola’, ‘chips’ and ‘detergent’.”

I replied that I didn’t mind low-key product placement, but I draw the line at overt stuff such as “C’mon, Phoebe, you know you’re interested in trying the new, calorie-free Coca-Cola Zero, aren’t you?”

I meant it to be a comical exaggeration, but today I learned that for Lindsay Lohan it’s just business as usual:

In an era when on-screen advertising is routine — even unobtrusive when done well — the makers of “Herbie” use every opportunity to stick a parade of Cheetos, Pepsi, Dupont, etc. in your face.

Not only is this supremely distracting, but Disney’s hyper-marketing even slows the dialogue as actors struggle to say such things as “Nextel Cup Series” as if they’re reading off cue cards held by stern-looking corporate lawyers.

— ‘Herbie’ is loaded all right, with product placements (via StudioBriefing)

For shame! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to enjoy the crisp, refreshing taste of a Cool-Ranch Pepsi.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 24th, 2005 at 6:38 pm and is filed under Film.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.