Apple Product Placement Reaches New Heights in Netflix Show 'House of Cards'

[johncrab]

You might very well think that but I couldn't possibly comment.

[peterh988]

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.

[notjustjay]

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...

[bbbelly]

Originally Posted by CGagnon

This could have just as easily been my house. Between my gf and I we have (I don't care to get all the specs so I'll just put the year we got them as the most recent iteration).

15" MacBook Pro with Retina (2012)
15" MacBook Pro (2010)
15" MacBook Pro (2008)
13" MacBook Pro (2012)
13" MacBook Air (2012)
iPad
iPad Mini
iPhone 5
iPhone 4s
2 iPhone 4
iPod Touch (2012)
iPod Nano (2010)
Apple TV (3rd gen)

what for?

[CGagnon]

Originally Posted by bbbelly

what for?

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

[winston1236]

Originally Posted by applesith

It's pretty common to find that many apple devices on a desk. Doesn't stick out as much as if it was all Samsung.

What?

[larrylaffer]

Originally Posted by Formul

Even though I love Apple there are just too many of their products in this show. It almost feels like an Apple ad and they don't even bother covering up the logos like in other shows. To be fair they are not shy about other product placement as well, the way underwood (avid gamer) reacts to PS Vita is just outright advertising

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.

[ksgant]

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.

[ProVideo]

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.

[iRCL]

Originally Posted by CGagnon

This could have just as easily been my house. Between my gf and I we have (I don't care to get all the specs so I'll just put the year we got them as the most recent iteration).

15" MacBook Pro with Retina (2012)
15" MacBook Pro (2010)
15" MacBook Pro (2008)
13" MacBook Pro (2012)
13" MacBook Air (2012)
iPad
iPad Mini
iPhone 5
iPhone 4s
2 iPhone 4
iPod Touch (2012)
iPod Nano (2010)
Apple TV (3rd gen)

Maybe next you can buy a wedding ring, may be more impressive

[Steve J0bs]

I could have sworn I witnessed Frank Underwood using a blackberry.

[CGagnon]

Originally Posted by iRCL

Maybe next you can buy a wedding ring, may be more impressive

That's next she wants to finish nursing school first

[SdeCarolis]

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...

[applesith]

Originally Posted by winston1236

What?

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.

[SockRolid]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

[...] Apple's products have long been featured in movies and television shows...

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!

Originally Posted by MacRumors

[...] House of Cards is the first program to be commissioned by the streaming movie and TV show service for exclusive broadcast on Netflix.

More proof that Netflix is trying to become HBO faster than HBO becomes Netflix.

[mrsir2009]

Originally Posted by ConCat

Slow comment day?

Every time

[osofast240sx]

The office uses almost all apple products

[notjustjay]

Originally Posted by applesith

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.

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.

[melendezest]

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.

----------

Originally Posted by CGagnon

This could have just as easily been my house. Between my gf and I we have (I don't care to get all the specs so I'll just put the year we got them as the most recent iteration).

15" MacBook Pro with Retina (2012)
15" MacBook Pro (2010)
15" MacBook Pro (2008)
13" MacBook Pro (2012)
13" MacBook Air (2012)
iPad
iPad Mini
iPhone 5
iPhone 4s
2 iPhone 4
iPod Touch (2012)
iPod Nano (2010)
Apple TV (3rd gen)

Yikes! I thought I was bad.

So, let me know when you're ready to sell some of that....

[charlituna]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

Apple's products have long been featured in movies and television shows, despite Apple's claims that the company does not pay for such placements.

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.

----------

Originally Posted by peterh988

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.

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

[jtp098]

Originally Posted by iRCL

Maybe next you can buy a wedding ring, may be more impressive

Same thought I had... or learn to use ebay or even better donate half that stuff for a good cause....

[peterh988]

Originally Posted by charlituna

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

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!......."

[theluggage]

Originally Posted by Formul

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?).

[iGrip]

Originally Posted by applesith

It's pretty common to find that many apple devices on a desk.

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.

[likeavaliant]

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.