Today’s ‘List Friday’. Like it or not – and I don’t – we live in a commercial age. I can’t – and I don’t – complain and object if advertisements are, well, advertisements. That is, when it’s apparent to a viewer/listener/reader that an advertisement’s an advertisement. Much more subtle, much more insidious, and regrettably much more prevalent, is the use of covert advertising. That is, when it’s not apparent to a viewer/listener/reader that an advertisement’s an advertisement. In this category is product placement [1, 2]. It’s not illegal. But I think it should be. Whenever Sweetheart Vivienne and I watch movies, we compete to see who can spot a product placement first. Product placements are hardly ever acknowledged in a film’s credits – in which case they’re even more insidious. And reprehensible. But perhaps the worst type of all is subliminal product placement, i.e. when it’s below the threshold of conscious perception. So back to today’s list. It’s from thevine.com.au, and it’s the ‘Top ten examples of product placement in movies’ [3]. As the preamble blurb says, these are ‘…filmic instances where artistic credibility went out the door for a quick buck’. Indeed. Ho hum.
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