"Broadway slow to embrace product placement."
"Broadway slow to embrace product placement."
jam_man
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/25/05
#1"Broadway slow to embrace product placement."
Posted: 12/10/07 at 9:46am
...is this a problem?
Yahoo.com
"The man who wishes he had written Phantom of the Opera!" - SueleenGay
GO CARDINALS!!!
#2re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 9:52am
My opinion is that the only thing using product placement will lose you is respect among the community. And even that can be salvaged somewhat if what you're making is genuinely good (honestly, how many people would get up in arms if a new Sondheim show had a reference to Mr. Pibb in it?)
If you look closely, the ones people tend to jump over for using product placement are the ones who make low-quality entertainment (most Adam Sandler movies) and the ones who make idiots of themselves anyway (Michael Bay).
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
myManCape
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/26/05
#2re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 9:56am
Look at Blonde. While it might not be paid product placement, but if those companies were forking over cash would it have changed the show in any way? No.
Granted Sweeney Todd using Barbasol Shaving Cream might be a little different.
keen on kean
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/1/06
#3re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 10:06amIt is a relief. Nothing would pull me out of the theater experience quicker than thinking "This song is brought to you by Apex Widget, used by stagehands everywhere. Apply directly to the forehead."
#4re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 10:19am
Kean, you just made my day.
Blonde's product placement isn't paid for? Is it legal then?
elphaba.scares.me
Broadway Star Joined: 10/23/04
#5re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 10:55am
LB's so-called "product placement" isn't that so much as it is a series of pop culture references.
Tiffany's is a proper sponsor, but Jetblue is not. Nor, presumably, is match.com, Beyonce, or any of the other things referenced in the script. Red Bull, I think, gives them free Red Bll to use as props, so that one is debatable.
Product placement is when companies pay to have their products featured in a show.
Blonde may have had to get some form of permission to use, say, the UPS uniform, but that's not the same as product placement.
#6re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 10:59am
What's my secret? Frankly, dear, forgive my candor
Family secret -- use McCormick herbs.
Things like being careful with the coriander
Crusts made by Marie Callender
#7re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 11:04am
i have to agree with Blonde
Its more of Pop Culture references like it is in the film
i personally dont care if theatre has product placement
#8re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 11:22amI'd be more patient with it if it kept prices down, but we know that ain't gonna happen...
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#9re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 12:13pm
Watch 30 Rock and see how product placement can make a show BETTER- reviews of last week's episode all mentioned the "America Express" story line as one of the best parts of the show- and they were actually ads.
And I used to hate the old days when a film or TV show would make up a product- it's unrealistic to see Mrs. Cleaver use "Betsy Croaker" cake mix. THAT takes me out of the moment.
#10re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 2:03pm
I liked when Tina Fey held up and complimented a product (escapes me now...) on 30 Rock, then said to the camera, "Can we get paid now?"
Also, there was one where they were bitching about the NBC brass telling them to add products to the (fictional) show they write for, then they all had a discussion about how AWESOME Diet Snapple is.
Classic.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#11re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 2:07pm
As part of a plot point, Fey & Baldwin discussed their Verizon phones- the great service, their sound quality, their popularity, before Fey turned to the camera, held up her phone and said "Can we get paid NOW?"
The Snapple scene was my all time favorite.
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#12re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 2:29pmI found all of the name brand products mentioned in LB a bit distracting.
#13re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 2:33pmi'm with Diva. they were silly and felt verymuchso like a commerical. i can see how it can be funny if done properly. but when you personally make a whole scene about Red Bull, i get lost.
#14re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 2:41pmWho remembers the INSANE product placement during In My Life? I was dying of laughter. Besides the inclusion of left- over Joe Brooks jingles for Volkswagens and Dr. Pepper, there were all of these times where you'd see something like Jessica Boevers unpacking groceries and holding up a HUGE box of Cheerios...
#15re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 3:12pmGuys take a valium
--http://www.benjaminadgate.com/
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#16re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 3:21pmDid Valium pay you to post that? Is there product placement on the BWW Board?
#17re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 3:41pm30 Rock is the exception, rather than the norm. I did a semester-long project on product placement on TV. Very, very few shows can seamlessly (or humorously) integrate product placement in a way that isn't tacky, sloppy or distracting. I doubt it would be any different were the trend to start on Broadway, and I really don't want to ever see that.
Wanting life but never knowing how
#18re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 3:51pmNo.......
--http://www.benjaminadgate.com/
henryt
Broadway Star Joined: 7/26/07
#19re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 4:57pmWith the Red Bull in Legally Blonde, they do provide free Red Bull for both onstage and backstage. Every dressing room has a fridge specially made by Red Bull for Red Bull!
#20re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 5:03pmSorry, but product placement on Broadway is horrifying.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#21re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 5:23pmSomeone, please help me with the exact reference, but didn't they change a line in "Sweet Charity" because they had a liquor sponsor? I was horrified by that ... until I read these posts & realized how bad it can be.
#22re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 5:32pm
official sponsers of legally blonde:
http://legallyblondethemusical.com/pop_sponsors.html
BNN
Broadway Star Joined: 12/12/05
#23re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 6:20pm
Drowsy endorses Powerbars!
But it didn't look like Bob Saget enjoyed them anyway.
#24re: 'Broadway slow to embrace product placement.'
Posted: 12/10/07 at 6:37pm
I think if it can be done right and in the right show, it could be ok. I was fine with all the real life products in LB, and thought it was fine and nothing that pulled me out of the moment (which I feel like if they drank OrangeBull or something silly like that it would have)
That being said, shows like Blonde it can work fine it, but there are plenty of shows, such as period pieces that I don't think it would work in, and hope we never need to see Phantom 2 with a giant chandalier from chandaliers.com or Cats 2 wearing pedmeds.com flea collars.
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