Product Placement as a Marketing Tool

There is an old (really old) saying in PR that “any PR is good – even bad PR.”

Recently I saw a movie that had the now-usual product placement for a certain American brand of beer. While their brand name was visible in an enviable percentage of the movie, the result of the character’s ‘enjoyment’ of said product was someone whose life was a mess. Numerous depictions of drunkenness, inability to hold a job or properly parent their child, and disinterest in anything more than the next beer were the benefits of his imbibing. His life turned around when he chose to not partake of said product.

I am all for creative marketing and applaud those companies who figured out that product placement in movies was a goldmine, but I question the judgment of placing your client’s product where its use is portrayed negatively.  While no product or service is 100% perfect, (sorry, it’s true) the role of a marketer is to highlight those attributes that are positive, and to try not to bring too much attention to the negative attributes. 

On the other hand, maybe I am just too critical and the fact that the beer name was shown not-so-subliminally hundreds of times is enough to overcome any negative perception. Either way, it’s food for thought.