First movie with product placement?
We were watching The Goonies (1985) tonight and I noticed that in the initial scenes one of the characters is rather prominently holding a Pepsi in his hand.
I know product placement has been a marketing technique used in movies for a long time now, and I doubt Goonies was the first movie to do this -- but what was the first movie to truly popularize or highlight getting paid for placing a product in a movie?
Also, any historical background / context on product placement in movies, or movies that made notable early marketing deals which resembled product placement, is welcome.
I'm trying to understand how this started, since the future of advertising seems to be this seamless paid integration of products into plots, rather than separate ads.
Best Answer
In the documentary "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" (a film specifically about the topic of product placement), director Morgan Spurlock notes that one of the first recognized product placements was in the 1919 Roscoe Arbuckle comedy The Garage, in which a Red Crown Gasoline logo was displayed on screen.
I expect watching the documentary would more than likely provide insight into product placement's rise in popularity in tv and film.
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What movie has the most product placement?
#1 AVENGERS: ENDGAME\u2013 $75.8M in product placement value With it being the most commercially successful movie of all time, these brands enjoyed a combined 76 million dollars in product placement advertising value.Who invented product placement?
Product placement began in the 19th century. By the time Jules Verne published the adventure novel Around the World in Eighty Days (1873), his fame had led transport and shipping companies to lobby to be mentioned in the story.What is an example of product placement in a movie?
But did you know that Reese's Pieces in E.T. is perhaps one of the best-known food product placement in movies? The placement was so popular with fans that Reese's Pieces are commonly referred to as UFO's candies. Hershey's brand saw a spike of 65% in sales within two weeks of the movie's release.What is an example of product placement?
This placement of branded goods or services is often found in entertainment, namely in movies or TV. For examples in the media, think of movies you've seen. If the lead actor is drinking a clearly labeled Coca-Cola beverage or using a clearly labeled Samsung cell phone, then this is product placement.A Brief History of Conspicuous Product Placement in Movies
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Answer 2
Wikipedia has a list of examples of product placement in movies. There it points out to the already mentioned Buster Keaton's Gas Ad. (although there is no definitive proof that this product placement was paid for). Other following mentions go to Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922), and perhaps interesting from the artistic point of view is Wings (1927), the first to win the Academy Award for Best Picture (It contained a plug for Hershey's chocolate.)
And over on Sociological Images there's a nice summary of a 6,5 min video, which confirms that the first known product placement was in 1919. Among other intersting facts, since the question asks about general background:
- Hershey’s paid a million dollars to make Reeses Pieces a plot point in E.T.
- Michael Bay’s Transformers has the record for most product placed in a single film with 47.
Answer 3
According to Wikipedia, product placement is almost as old as film, showing up even in the 1927 silent film Wings and Fritz Lang's 1932 film M.
Wikipedia: Product placement Early examples
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