Apple’s Product Placement

Just recently I’ve noticed two instances where the iPod has made its TV screen debut. Under a slightly different name, either due to legalities or from a comical view-point, the iPod has been seen in recent episodes of the Simpsons and in Scary Movie 4.

In the Simpsons, Homer’s Father, Abe ‘Grandpa’ Simpson, is ready to end his life in the most comical of Simpson styles with a diePod, a large iPod which plays music — as it does best — to the patient before somehow peacefully killing him. I won’t give away any more on that episode though, I can almost hear people shouting “shut up, I’ve not seen it yet!”

In another reference on film, the iPod is present in Scary Movie 4. In a trailer that I saw a few days ago, the iPod, known as a triPod, appears to be about 4 to 5 stories high as it suddenly looms over a crowd of people in the streets. The screen on the triPod then comically scrolls down the playlist to play a song, Karma Chameleon by the Culture Club. Stereo-typical films like this would have you believe Americans are used to this sort of thing, and of course, begin to dance to the 80’s pop hit. However, it all takes a turn for the worse when the triPod scrolls down to the next item on the playlist which is called “Destroy Humanity.” I assume you can guess the rest?

I’ve noticed in many other TV shows, in the UK at least, that there are an awful lot of references, and appearances, of the iPod or other Apple products such as the iMac. It seems that although the Mac community throughout the world still only holds 5% of market share, it certainly appears to be a large community.

A recent source tells me that in total, Apple products, such as the iMac and iPod - which appear to be the two best known products from Apple — have been featured over 250 times in the past four months on 38 different network prime-time shows, including hits ‘The OC’ and ‘CSI: NY’ totalling roughly 26 minutes of free exposure in the States alone. Add that to the shows in the UK, Australia and elsewhere in the world where an Apple product has made a screen appearance and that’s an awful lot of free airplay.

So how is it that a company such as Apple can get away with this sort of exposure? According to founding partner and CEO of Propaganda Global Entertainment Marketing, Ruben Igielko-Herrlich, it’s because the iPod “never paid for placement because Apple is cool”. He also goes on to the state “if you’re a cool brand or an affluent, prestigious brand, it’s not going to cost you what it’s going to cost fast-moving consumer products like soft drinks or detergents. When you have that kind of image and aura, you don’t pay for it.

This sort of thing isn’t just an Apple-exclusive though. Other companies that appear to be labelled a popular consumer choice, such as Dell and IBM, also get exposure in the same way Apple do, but due to their products looking so bland and, forgive me for saying, similar to others, it doesn’t always stand out. Everyone knows what an iPod looks like, and with recent raving reviews in national newspapers (in the UK at least), most people know what the latest iMac looks like — and lets face it, a large white object with a TFT screen that acts as both a computer and a monitor isn’t something you’re going to just glance at and look away, is it?. Their products are more futuristic when compared to some and they stand out a mile.

The Washington Post says that placement is “often arranged through some kind of barter in which the show provides exposure in exchange for products or services”. From that, I’m forced to ask the question, is it really free then? I guess if you look at it in a literal sense, it isn’t. An iMac costs roughly $900 to produce and giving it away wouldn’t bring that $900 back, but when you compare the cost of that to normal advertising — and by ‘normal advertising’, I mean advertising on program breaks — then it’s actually costing them a lot less but with a similar, albeit not constant, impact.

Clever stuff.