The Virtuous Circle of Product Placement in Apple's TV+ Shows

[MistrSynistr]

I forgot about this being an Apple production and them doing this, that's hilarious. Apple seems like a company that WOULDN'T shoe horn it's products in every scene.

If you want a good laugh, watch Amazing Spider-Man 2..or as I call it: SONY: THE MOVIE

 

[doelcm82]

Really? First 3 minutes of The Morning Show you had 3 people waking up in the middle of the night and checking their iPhones. lol

Every time I wake up and check my phone, it’s an iPhone. Sometimes I think, this time it will be something else, but no. It’s always an iPhone. It can’t be a coincidence!

 

[azentropy]

32 times per episode is not "subtle". It's shameful.

And how many times per episode of those 32 are situations where there wouldn't be those types of products anyway? Are they supposed to show an office without any computers? Or work from home doing research without a computer or tablet? Are they supposed to pretend people don't talk on phones?

 

[majurg]

IIRC most of these devices that are seen in scenes are the production crew's laptops and phones, so apple products have been seen in almost every tv series for a long time now. The logos usually are obscured or removed in post-production due to copyright etc.

Now that apple itself is producing these shows, there is no need to dodge copyright violations. Its a small, probably unintentional fringe marketing benefit.

 

[iamgalt]

Well, clearly the people at the Wall Street Journal are living way more exciting lives than I am. I mean seriously, here I was going out to dinner with friends and conversing with other people. How lame is that. I could have been at home, watching TV, and counting how many times Apple products appear on a TV show. I've been wasting my life.

 

[NufSaid]

While doing it on propose is part of it it is probably a relief to directors who don’t have to worry over logos showing.

licensing like that is a pain.

 

[phgreer]

To this day since 1978 I remember the most prominent product placement was Martha Kent had Kellog's Corn Flakes in her kitchen by the window over the sink as she looked out and saw Clark standing in the corn field. Yeah, that was pretty corny.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Say what? I didn't notice a thing!

 

[arn]

Apple should really put unreleased products in the shows - that’ll increase viewership 😉

 

[yaxomoxay]

Apple should really put unreleased products in the shows - that’ll increase viewership 😉

ah! they should do some trolling, like "Apple Water" placement or stuff like that.

 

[Unggoy Murderer]

You sure? The logo will be upright when the lid is open which means it faces away from you when closed and correctly placed for use.

This is actually a thing that Steve Jobs thought about. He wanted (and got) some of the first Apple notebooks to have the Apple logo facing the user as it was opened, resulting in an up-side down logo when it was open. They reversed course in later models.

 

[Winni]

Will the villains in the new shows use windows or android products?

Most likely. And traditionally, they also drive German cars.
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I do not see any problem in this. They (Apple) pay for the show, why should they marketing non Apple products ?

Because it's ADVERTISEMENT, not entertainment - and in this case, people even PAY to watch that advertisement.

In Germany, we have laws that regulate that kind of subconscious manipulation - which it is. TV shows actually must carry a visible ADVERTISEMENT banner on screen when they contain a certain level of product placements.

 

[ProVideo]

If HBO, Netflix, Amazon, Showtime, Disney+, etc see AppleTV+ as competition they might start requiring their shows to not use any Apple products on camera. I noticed a ton of iPhones on screen in Succession on HBO. While their in house product placement might help them in the short term, they could end up losing a ton of free product placement in the future in shows and movies with larger audiences.

 

[Marco Klobas]

It's the first thing that grabbed my attention watching the first episode of The Morning Show.

The second was the abundance of vulgar words in dialogues. Tons of f*uck and s*hit plus other minors epithets, almost on par with Orange is the New Black.

The third was the good acting and story.

Not exactly a good start for me. Perhaps the rumors (clearly unfounded) about Apple's aim to offer family friendly contents surprised me.

I'll still watch other episodes, though. I'll give Apple another chance. Besides, I have yet to see other TV series.

 

[macfacts]

So apple is using subliminal advertising, so sneaky.

 

[Peperino]

NO product placement will help sell or hide how badly designed is the current (2016+) entire Macbook line.
One of the worse products (if not the worse) that Apple ever designed.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Nothing, and I mean NOTHING will beat this product placement. I love the Power Glove. It's so bad.

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[Expos of 1969]

Most likely. And traditionally, they also drive German cars.
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Because it's ADVERTISEMENT, not entertainment - and in this case, people even PAY to watch that advertisement.

In Germany, we have laws that regulate that kind of subconscious manipulation - which it is. TV shows actually must carry a visible ADVERTISEMENT banner on screen when they contain a certain level of product placements.

Go easy now Winni, don't want to upset the loons who think the EU has a vendetta against their "can do no wrong" Apple.

 

[Rojaaemon]

What we really need to know is: Coke? or Pepsi?

 

[Peperino]

It's the first thing that grabbed my attention watching the first episode of The Morning Show.

The second was the abundance of vulgar words in dialogues. Tons of f*uck and s*hit plus other minors epithets, almost on par with Orange is the New Black.

The third was the good acting and story.

Not exactly a good start for me. Perhaps the rumors (clearly unfounded) about Apple's aim to offer family friendly contents surprised me.

I'll still watch other episodes, though. I'll give Apple another chance. Besides, I have yet to see other TV series.

So much for Apple's family oriented shows...

 

[citysnaps]

Well, that's a no-brainer. For episodes that need computers, why would they be procured from Dell, Lenovo, or Microsoft?
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How is this news? It should be expected.

Astonishing people are getting frothed up over this. Must be a day where's its hard finding something to get outraged about.
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So apple is using subliminal advertising, so sneaky.

See above.

 

[goodyear]

Shameless.

 

[zorinlynx]

Subtle, or not so subtle advertising. I’ve noticed Apple products are shown in other shows as well.

Neat little tidbit:

Whenever you seen an Apple product (or any company's product, really, but Apple is the most common for this) and the logo is covered up or taped over, it means the network or studio went to Apple and said "We'll feature your products for $xxxx" and Apple said no.

A lot of times the studios have finished filming before these deals are finalized and they fall through, hence the tape, digital removal or covering up of company logos. There's a LOT of money flying around for stuff you wouldn't even think about when watching TV.

 

[jlc1978]

I've always wondered why they do that. Cover the logo in movies. Is it because of trademark issues?

Money. It's pay to play and no pay no show logos.

 

[Smearbrick]

The product placement in the first episode was downright a distraction like they weren’t even trying to be subtle about it.

As long as the product placement isn’t obvious advertisement (those detours in“Bones” when Brennan would discuss the features of her car... ugh) I’ve never found it to be an issue. What would be distracting is if they used non-brand name items. That type of thing takes me right out of a program. NCIS does this, CSI did this a lot as well.