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Apple Product Placement Reaches New Heights in Netflix Show 'House of Cards'
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NCIS:LA (shown here in the UK on Sunday) must have had the most blatant product placements this week, the guy pulls out his tablet, flicks the kickstand open (just like on the ads) then pulls out his keyboard/cover thingy, snaps it onto tablet, (just like in the ads). All it needed was for him to say "Microsoft surface" in his next line to complete the advert.
There's a extraordinary amount of "uploading to my skydive" lines on that show, too.
There's a extraordinary amount of "uploading to my skydive" lines on that show, too.
Dear Apple: if you'd like to offer me some free stuff for Product Placement, I'd be happy to showcase a 27" inch iMac in my home office...
I need a lot of devices because I am a developer in my spare time. As for all of the laptops, one is a work computer if that helps
Even though I love Apple there are just too many of their products in this show. It almost feels like an Apple ad
btw the show is just fantastic all the way to the last episode - releasing the whole season in one day is another great thing about it
I just saw this episode and I started laughing at how ridiculously obvious it is. It cost $50m for Netflix to produce one season of this show, so I guess they have little choice.
Actually, I think it's the opposite about the product placement on House of Cards. I was commenting to my wife that they're pretty democratic on the devices. Yes, you see Macs and iPhones, but also Blackberries and Dells and other devices that are non-Apple related.
Usually when a show like this hits on a network, they're locked in with one vendor and they're pretty prominently placed. This show, it's all over the place.
Have you people even seen this show? Or are you only focusing on when you see a Apple product? You know, when I was a kid and we went on long car trips, we would count the number of Volkswagon Beetles you'd see on the road. Soon, it seemed that's ALL you saw because you'd be looking for them. Is that the case here? I mean, one of the main characters doesn't even use a Mac to write on. She has an iPhone, yes, but then again, so do a ton of people.
This is a non-story.
Usually when a show like this hits on a network, they're locked in with one vendor and they're pretty prominently placed. This show, it's all over the place.
Have you people even seen this show? Or are you only focusing on when you see a Apple product? You know, when I was a kid and we went on long car trips, we would count the number of Volkswagon Beetles you'd see on the road. Soon, it seemed that's ALL you saw because you'd be looking for them. Is that the case here? I mean, one of the main characters doesn't even use a Mac to write on. She has an iPhone, yes, but then again, so do a ton of people.
This is a non-story.
This shouldn't be surprising considering David Fincher's involvement. He directed the 3G commercial (link). He directed Nine Inch Nails' "Only" video which was basically a MacBook Pro commercial (link). There was the Apple display being blown up in "Fight Club", which Apple approved. Even going back to 1990, Fincher had a Mac in "Cradle of Love" (link). There are likely more examples of Apple products in his work from over the years that I'm missing.
He obviously has an affinity for Apple products. Aside from being a great director, this is one of the main reasons I hope he is able to direct the authorized Steve Jobs film.
He obviously has an affinity for Apple products. Aside from being a great director, this is one of the main reasons I hope he is able to direct the authorized Steve Jobs film.
There are a lot of reports indicating that Samsung (and other manufacturers) have great market shares. However, wherever I go, all I see are iDevices...
You are more likely to see someone have Apple brand devices across all their needs than Samsung or some other brand. I'm not saying many have that many devices on their desk, but they are gonna be Apple themed.
I just hope that Jeff Goldblum's "PowerBook XXXX" (it was a prototype with no number) is somewhere safe. You just never know when you'll need to fend off another space alien attack.
We must always be vigilant. Always ready. Watch the skies!
More proof that Netflix is trying to become HBO faster than HBO becomes Netflix.
Well, also, since we're on an Apple site, it's probably safe to say we are owners and fans of Apple devices, so we're going to notice whenever other people use the same devices.
I'm sure there are Samsung device owners who go "Ooh, Samsung!" whenever they see those products on TV.
I drive a Subaru, and I notice every time another one drives by me on the road. Whereas if you don't drive a Subaru, you are probably far less likely than I to notice them, and probably more likely to notice whatever brand of car you drive.
That's it. I'm not watching this show. It is totally unrealistic, because it shows people using iPads at work, and possibly for work. Since we all know that you need a "real" device to get some work done, the suspension of disbelief is lost for me.
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Yikes! I thought I was bad.
So, let me know when you're ready to sell some of that....
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Yikes! I thought I was bad.
So, let me know when you're ready to sell some of that....
Few to no companies pay for placement outside of giving free product. Until recent years it was illegal for TV shows to receive money for placement. So companies would donate product to prop houses especially studio based ones and hope shows would use it. And if they saw a product being used they might call and offer more 'since you like our stuff' especially if it was the pilot and they could get a screener before full filming started.
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Sherlock using a Surface in the bathroom. Says it all to me.
What's more fun is that for a long time it was considered a no go to show logos in movies and TV shows. Which is why you'd have faked UI, company stickers etc. there are some great examples of hiding the candy
My fav is still gossip girls
Same thought I had... or learn to use ebay or even better donate half that stuff for a good cause....
What struck me about the NCIS thing that it wasn't acting with a 'thing' whilst talking to someone, the whole scene was about, and only about, opening the kickstand and clicking on the keyboard.
Over here in the UK, programmes have to display a letter 'P' in the credits to indicate some companies have paid to have their products featured. It used to be the case that (especially the BBC) would, as you say, carefully place all the items so labels could not be seen, I noticed this only at the weekend when a show from 1975 had every can in the shop rotated so the labels couldn't be read.
I think the most extreme example was the cartoon 'Top Cat" which was called 'Boss Cat' by the BBC, as top cat was a cat food brand. Pretty silly though, as the continuity announcer would say, "and now lets see what's happening with Boss Cat" to be immediately followed by the opening line of the theme tune "TOP CAT!......."
btw the show is just fantastic all the way to the last episode - releasing the whole season in one day is another great thing about it
If you're in withdrawal, the BBC adapted the same book years ago.
Can't remember if there were any Macs in it.
You might think that you could download it from somewhere on the internet, but I couldn't possibly comment (or didn't that catchphrase make it into the US version?).
Yeah. I thought that 3 iPhones per person was fairly normal too. I guess that we're not within the potential customer base for this particular campaign.
It seems to me that being an independent show on Netflix without any commercials, that the product placement for multiple brands and products is probably paid for, thus it's quite heavy. Off the top of my head here are some examples:
+Obviously the Apple placement (iphones, ipads, macs)
+Sony Vita (quite an obvious placement, "OH is that a PSP Vita? I have one of these, it's great, etc.)
+Call of Duty (or whatever video game it is that he is playing on his nice, big flatscreen, which I didn't even think to look at who made it)
+Blackberry (As mentioned, I'm not that far into the show yet, or I just haven't noticed.)
+Enterprise (He rents a really slick looking car from Enterprise. Once again, it could have been obvious, but I'm not actually studying the show; it's just another placement I had noticed.)
Subliminal advertising is pretty strong in this show. And because it's an internet based show, it doesn't have to follow the same regulations as one on cable.
+Obviously the Apple placement (iphones, ipads, macs)
+Sony Vita (quite an obvious placement, "OH is that a PSP Vita? I have one of these, it's great, etc.)
+Call of Duty (or whatever video game it is that he is playing on his nice, big flatscreen, which I didn't even think to look at who made it)
+Blackberry (As mentioned, I'm not that far into the show yet, or I just haven't noticed.)
+Enterprise (He rents a really slick looking car from Enterprise. Once again, it could have been obvious, but I'm not actually studying the show; it's just another placement I had noticed.)
Subliminal advertising is pretty strong in this show. And because it's an internet based show, it doesn't have to follow the same regulations as one on cable.