So today in class, we discussed commodification. This is one of those things, to me, that everyone knows about, but we never really knew the correct term for it. Product placement = Commodification. Now we know. That being said, one thing popped into my mind when we started discussing this theory: Apple.
Now... I tend to be a product placement junkie, if you will. This, sadly enough, is one of my popculture obsessions. I will sit in a movie theater, and as soon as I see a product's brand name, I will lean over to whoever happens to be accompanying me and tell them that, Pepsi, let's say, was just displayed. Now that you all know about my obsession, there is something that everyone should know. Apple products, particularly Macbooks, are taking over in the product placement world. I can honestly say that in the past two/three years, I have MAYBE seen a dell or some other brand once or twice in a movie.
To me, this kind of relates back to the Marxist theory as well. Everyone and their mother, in film, have a Macbook and of course an Ipod. As much as I would like to believe that to be true, I know that most working class or middle class families can't afford to have pricey Apple products, much less for their whole family. I guess to wrap it up, I think that media logic, and specifically commodification, correlates directly with Marxist rhetorical perspective. And - I challenge you to watch a few movies and check out what brand their computer is!
Those are some great points! I never realized how frequently commodification is used, especially over the last couple years in pop culture.
ReplyDeleteNow that we have a solid understanding of the term and how product placement is used in pop culture, I have become more conscious of the idea and how advertising promotes commodification (but often in denial).
For example: Most recently I was watching my roommate play a video game which had billboards in the background advertising businesses, products, etc. The game even had an H&M store in the "village" section of the game.
Check out this link for another example: http://www.brandfreak.com/2010/09/in-game-advertising-boosts-real-world-sales-according-to-study.html
This is another great link to a video showing that Apple products "showed up" in popular movies--it even states 30% of all movies in one-year had apple products placed in them: http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/22/someone-at-apple-a-product-placement-genius-appearance-in-30-of-top-movies-in-2010/
Wow Jared! I'm glad you found that video! I was looking for something just like that for my blog post to blow people's minds and make them realize that apple is LITERALLY everywhere, and that video pretty much summed it up! Thanks for that
ReplyDelete