As seen (only) on TV

Product placement has been rampant in the US for sometime; Zeitgeist has commented on it before, as well as its close cousin, contextual advertising. Part of the Zeitgeist team thinks the show 30 Rock is consistently the funniest thing to ever grace their torrent-hungry laptop, and in the episode Generalissimo, the LatAm tendency for “branded-entertainment projects” is gloriously parodied (see a Latin Alec Baldwin, above).

While the UK continues to struggle with implications of such things and Lady Gaga’s new music video makes her a ‘product placement lady of the night’ the New York Times reported yesterday that the Spanish-language network Telemundo is “expanding” the idea, by having new products created specifically for the show that will then be available to buy.

“Telemundo already works with advertisers like… Ford, Subway, T-Mobile and Toyota… The new deals will create products that would not otherwise exist for viewers to buy. The first products will be jewelry, made by the Richline Group… which is to be worn in an episode of the telenovela “El Clon” (“The Clone”) to be broadcast on Telemundo at 8 p.m. on April 22. The jewelry is already available for sale on the Telemundo Web site (telemundo.com).” PSFK comments, “The beauty of this announcement is that it reflects the increasingly targeted capabilities available to brands via product integration, if they choose to exercise that option.”

A very interesting idea, and one that Kellogg’s and M&S have recently implemeted on a much smaller scale in the UK. This article is sponsored by the Sheinhardt Wig Corp.