Branding through product placement

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2003/03/17/focus1.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P2SrqCWe_E


Axe proposes that its product will get the girl for the guy by doing all the work. All the man has to do is spray the product, and women come running to him. I presume that males have this fantasy of women perceiving sex as simply the act of sex, no emotional attachments (animalistic). As you said, Stephanie, it also strokes the male ego and gives the men in the commercials a sense of power. It is not about the scent itself, but what the scent can do. This brand can reach all men; whether they are shy or outgoing.

We read about brands in the chapters from No Logo. Brands are usually not about the product they represent, but rather about what the products can do for the image of the consumer. Starbucks is a brand that was created into a lifestyle. It was more than a coffee shop, it was a way of life. They pioneered using alternative outlets besides traditional advertising to reach consumers in places that they were not expecting and could not avoid. One of these ways was through product placement, which is a fast-growing medium used by advertisers today. Above I posted an article that interviews the product placement specialists for Starbucks, Chris Gorley. She explains the importance of product placement and her management of how the product is presented in film and television. Below that is a video clip from Austin Powers. The film incorporates five company logos/products into the film within one minute of film time! The most prevalent company was Starbucks who was actually incorporated into the script.

Companies are sneaking ads into to areas of our media that we never imagined they would or could. They do this just to get us to pay attention in world where we have become desensitized to ads.