Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a method of advertising used by companies to promote their products by placing them in film, television, music video, or other media.

 

According to Henry Jenkins in chapter two of his book Convergence Culture, “Marketing gurus argue…that product placements will allow brands to tap some of the affective force of the affiliated entertainment properties” (63).

 

In other words, product placements allow companies to rely on the popularity of particular media outlets to promote their name. Examples of classic product placement can be seen in the screenshots on the right.

 

        This marketing method is usually subtle, as products often appear in the background of shots in film and television shows. However, this is not always the case.

 

Some shows and films that rely on product placement to help fund production incorporate the advertisements into their dialogue to poke fun at the idea while still earning money from it.

 

Media that choose this form of advertising are usually satirical in nature, so their ironic use of product placement doesn’t seem out of place in context to the rest of the show (or film).

 

Three examples that I will be exploring as case studies of this satirical product placement are the NBC comedies 30 Rock and Community and the movie Wayne’s World.