How much does product placement ruin your immersion?

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

I feel as though in most cases I am rather ambivalent in seeing product placement in movies and games and what have you and of course it all depends on context.

Just recently though I discovered that in the upcoming Resident Evil 2 Remake; Claire Redfield, who rides a Motorcycle when she arrived to Racoon City, is now a certain brand of Motorcycle:

Personally it does not completely bother me that the Motorcycle is a Harley-Davidson, if anything it kinda showcases that this is a real world earth heavily fictionalized, and if their intention is to sell me thier brand of Motorcycle, well they failed because I have no interest in Motorcycles at all and I am a bit afraid of riding one.

And othe cases of product placement does not bother me that much like seeing a brand of chain-resturants, and a drinking vendor in the background, or even branded foods and drinks that charcaters are eating, because really it just gives the impression taht its a "real plcae" the world takes place in, here's an example with the Sopranos in a family dinner and they all are drinking Coca Cola, its portrayed as rather normal:

 

[tippy2k2]

Honestly, I could not care less.

Even in movies where the camera lovingly pans to the product (see Transformers panning to the car logo when it introduced Bumblebee turning into the brand new Camaro; linked below), I generally do not notice.

Hell, the only reason I now notice is BECAUSE people keep pointing it out how product placement keeps getting put in. If people hadn't ever complained about it, I don't know if I'd have ever even noticed that something like the below scene was a big product placement...


I do find it funny when a product placement kind of makes your product look like shit (like evidently Energizer batteries have the lifespan of about 30 seconds if you go by Alan Wake) but still, for whatever reason, product placement has never really bothered me.

 

[Natemans]

Eh, depends how much.

I mean a good example is Sex Tape which is basically just a giant ad for Apple products.

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

As long as the product isn't too in the face about it, and not appearing out of context either, it doesn't bother me.

 

[MetalDooley]

Doesn't really bother me at all. If your movie/tv show/game etc is set in a real world location then it makes sense to have real world brands. As long as it's not ridiculously blatant like the spoof product placment in Waynes World kind of levels

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Doesn't really bother me at all. If your movie/tv show/game etc is set in a real world location then it makes sense to have real world brands. As long as it's not ridiculously blatant like the spoof product placment in Waynes World kind of levels

Or in Amazing Spiderman 2 where EVERY product is Sony related.

Sony Laptops, Sony TVs, Sony Smartphones and Tablets.

Not a single Samsung or Apple.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Sony is usually the worst offender. Than and Adam Sandler, but his movies have worse problems than product placement.
And no that little sticker on Claire's bike doesn't bother me.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Dependent on the product/context for me

For instance, seeing Pizza Hut in Evangelion was fine by me as it wasn't the focus of the scene

Seeing Dre Beats in the new Jurassic Park instantly made it an awful film
Futuristic fiction, yet they still use a wired connection. Couldn't even bother making some custom made ones. They literally just handed them their current product line model. The kid is suppose to be some rich snob abhorring his visit to a dinosaur park. Is he being retro or something? Kid should of had the self-lacing Nike shoes of headphones but instead he got overpriced product placement

Vaio laptops are amazing so I'm actually a bit heart broken when Sony features the brand in a film

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

If a game happens to be set in a "real world"(more or less), it doesn't, quite the opposite.

 

[twistedmic]

How much product placement that I can stand really depends on the type of movie. If it's a serious movie (anything not a comedy/parody/farce) I can handle light to moderate product placement but I'm put off when it reaches Transformers or, God forbid, Mission to Mars levels.
With comedies I can handle Wayne's World and Happy Gilmore levels of product placement without being overly bothered.

 

[Elijin]

So long as the product doesnt get special treatment that distracts. Like the eternally clean hyuandai in the walking dead.

 

[Wintermute_v1legacy]

Usually I'm not bothered by it, unless every character in the movie is holding their Pepsi just perfect so the camera shows the Pepsi logo, because let's be honest, Coke is terrible, but Pepsi is terrible-er.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Man of Steel was hilarious with its terrible, TERRIBLE product placement. Generally I find most movies with bad product placement are also just plain bad, so I'm not really bothered by it.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

It doesn't really bother me as long as it's not too in your face and doesn't clash with the setting or aesthetic.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I dunno man, product placement can be kindy iffy if it's not done right. If the scene hangs around on it for a bit too long, it kills it for me a little. But if it's something as simple as someone just using a Mac or cracking open a fresh refreshing can of ice cold Pepsi[sup]tm[/sup], the taste of a new generation, then I think that's fine. As long as it's short lasting, which is why you should savour every drop of the delicious Pepsi[sup]tm[/sup] as every bit hits your taste buds. Nothing better on a hot summer day!

 

[Dalisclock]

Really does depend. On one hand, seeing cans of soda that are labeled "Cola" or "Soda" is just straight out offputting because it's clearly fake. Having off-brand products that's obviously supposed to be Pepsi but with slightly different spelling is a little less offputting but still stands out.

OTOH, Having everyone munching Doritos and drinking Mountain Dew prominently is just as distracting. Happy Gilmore and Little Nicky pimped for Subway and Popeyes extremely prominately, but strangely that didn't bother me so much considering they were comedies and not taking themselves super seriously to begin with.

Though apparently Final Fantasy XV had extremely overt displays of Coleman camping products and Cup Noodles, which just comes across as bizarre when this is a world where magic is a regular, known thing and is very obviously a fantasy world where technology just happens to be roughly at our present level("Insomnia was destroyed today. Now for a message for coleman camping products")I haven't played the game yet(waiting for all the dlc to drop) so I don't know how bad it is.

There's one particular example that did it both ways. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, unlike every other game in the series, had healing items in the form of various foods, such as: Lemon Lime Soda, Tortilla chips, Mate, Curry, etc. In Japan, the chips and soda were actual Product placement such as Doritos and such due to some kind of licensing deal, but in the rest of world, these healing consumables ended up being just bland name products. Which ironically ended up being amusing in it's own right because looking at the products in the item viewer had them labeled with MSF, AKA Snake and Miller's PMC. There's even a joke somewhere in the tapes about Miller trying to start his own brand MSF snack foods which I found amusingly appropriate. Peace Walker had a lot of jokes that required you to listen to the tapes to get to, such as the revelation that Big Boss still believes in Santa Claus or his complete obsession with cardboard boxes(including ones built like little tanks or ambulances).

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

OTOH, Having everyone munching Doritos and drinking Mountain Dew prominently is just as distracting. Happy Gilmore and Little Nicky pimped for Subway and Popeyes extremely prominately, but strangely that didn't bother me so much considering they were comedies and not taking themselves super seriously to begin with.

I've always been a fan of the 30 Rock/Community take on product placement, where a running joke through an entire episode is the blatant (and often double faced) product placement. The highlighting being the episode of Community where Britta falls in love with Subway, the Corporate Person that embodies the Subway corporation. Which ends with Corporate Person Subway being stripped of his name because he engages in sexual acts with Britta that does not present the wholesome ideals of Subway.

In general, appropriate product placement doesn't bother me much. If someone drink a Pepsi so we can see the label or whip out their Samsung phone that's fine. It becomes distracting when the show/game/whatever just has to push it, often by highlighting the product in dialogue ("Is that the new iPhone 8S? We will get a signal for sure!") or just having way too many shots of them, that doesn't do anything but to remind us that yes, this secret agent absolutely uses Sony for all his home electronics needs.

 

[Casual Shinji]

There's a difference between showing people using everyday products, some of which have brands because why wouldn't they, and having scenes clearly set-up to put a certain brand on display. Man of Steel is fucking egregious when it comes to the latter.

 

[Catnip1024]

If it's done this blatantly, then it ruins things.

That said, the Bond films also rely on certain brands as part of the scene setting - the way it's always an Aston Martin, for instance.

 

[Catfood220]

So long as the product doesnt get special treatment that distracts. Like the eternally clean hyuandai in the walking dead.

That and the Wichesters immaculate Impala in Supernatural. Considering the amount of driving they do, that car should be filthy with road dust at the very least. But no, every time they turn up in a new town, it is spotless. My only explaination is that it is protected by a spell that obliterates dirt before it hits the car.

I don't mind product placement so long as it is not too blatent, it doesn't make me want to buy anything any more than I usually would.