Product Placement...Better Than Sliced Bread?

First of all, I don't understand the concept of "better than sliced bread." Isn't bread and water what they give prisoners? Why would sliced bread be something good? It's high in carbs, has no nutrition value and bland at best. It appears to me though, that in todays age, it is a good thing, so in that context, let''s talk about Product Placement.

With the advent of TIVO, many huge corporations are seeing their advertising dollars flushed down the toilet as their various messages are being fast forwarded. The average consumer is just sick and tired of being "sold" something. Now enter a kind of sly way to promote a product...pay for a star to use it or better yet, have it used in a TV show written into a movie script.

OK, trivia time, do you know the first time product placement was used in TV or the movies?
Drum roll please............................................

The first time of note it was used was in the move ET in 1982. Do you remember Elliot left Reese's Pieces as bait for ET? When E.T. followed that trail of orange and yellow candies, Reese's saw their stock shoot up.

Up until then, product placement was a totally foreign concept and to a certain extent is still a bit misunderstood becuase it's not overt--Most ads come accross like---HEY YOU. BUY ME...YEAH, YOU OVER HERE...SPEND YOUR MONEY ON THIS....COME ON I KNOW YOU'RE STUPID....BUY THIS NOW....

Product placement infers a kind of peer pressure to obtain the product. Wow, Brad Pitt drinks Pepsi or Paris Hilton buys Dolce, so I want to be like them, so I'll drink Pepsi and buy something from D&G. It's a more covert way of getting thru and maybe that is why as a medium is not being talked about but I think it has its place.

In reality where would Red Bull be without product placement. I personally love Red Bull and am glad it made it as a brand :-)