[Salty]

OK... so I've been wondering, I'm writing a book, and as I write if my character is doing something involving oh let's say Facebook, I just write Facebook. I don't call it FaceSpace, or MyBook, or TwitSpace or something like that, I just call it Facebook. And it seems like on TV half the time you'll get product placements in which case you say Microsoft when you mean Microsoft. In some cases the software company is evil and they're creating a giant robot to kill the children, so you call them Nanosoft. I get that. But why is it that sometimes when you see someone in a movie using a computer they're using windows, sometimes they're using Mac OS, and sometimes they're using weird hollywood OS that look like something totally different. Should I take that to mean that every time OS X or Windows show up in a show that they've got product placement deals with those shows?

I know that generally the idea is you don't want to get sued. But at the same time, how often do companies sue for these sorts of things? Should my character have an iPhone that he loves, or should he just have a glass and metal touch screen phone that he likes a lot but can't name for fear of getting sued? Or should I just ink a product placement deal with Samsung and give him a Samsung Galaxy S?

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Salty 

Should my character have an iPhone that he loves

No. Because if he had an iPhone that he loves he'd be a complete tosser who the readers wouldn't want to read about. Did John McCain have an iPhone that he loves? No. Jack Bauer? No. James Bond? No.

[ghporter]

Being sued is one possibility. Another is "free advertising." Do you really want to provide advertising for free to various commercial enterprises and for various products? This is one reason you see some real products in movies and not others-the film makers get paid to show real products. It's called "product placement." It's not such a big deal in print, but it is in film.

By the way, most "that's not really what it is" stuff I've seen in print has had subtle (or not so subtle) differences from the real stuff. Often this is for the benefit of the writer, allowing him/her to make things move along easier or to precipitate some dramatic thing or other.

[SpaceMonkey]

^ Bingo. It's more about placements than lawsuits, unless you are implying something nasty about that particular product.

[imitchellg5]

Just give it a Chinese clone name, like myPhone 4.

[Laminar]

My favorite part is where every computer in every movie/tv show makes noises whenever you do anything.

[SpaceMonkey]

And of course:

"Zoom in...enhance!"

[MacinTommy]

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey 

And of course:

"Zoom in...enhance!"

Enhance

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Salty 

OK... so I've been wondering, I'm writing a book, and as I write if my character is doing something involving oh let's say Facebook, I just write Facebook.

There's another unfortunate downside to doing this that you should know about.

Let's say your novel is actually published. In ten years' time, is anyone going to know what a "Facebook" is? They could go bump tomorrow and be completely forgotten by most people within five years. Then where are you? Nowhere.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

If you're writing a novel that has the words "facebook" and "iphone" in it, you should just stop wasting your time right now.

/thread

[SpaceMonkey]

So who's going to see that Facebook movie?

[The Final Dakar]

I'd rather see the twitter movie.

[Laminar]

I hope it's about an angsty gay guy.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

I hope it's about an angsty gay guy.

Hey, look - they already started working on the script.

[Spheric Harlot]

And then, they nailed him to a tree.

[FireWire]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

My favorite part is where every computer in every movie/tv show makes noises whenever you do anything.

It would drive me crazy if my OS produced a sound when I empty the trash or move a window.. It would be even more irritating if the sound would travel from my right speaker to my left speaker as I drag the window across the screen!

Originally Posted by Doofy 

There's another unfortunate downside to doing this that you should know about.

Let's say your novel is actually published. In ten years' time, is anyone going to know what a "Facebook" is? They could go bump tomorrow and be completely forgotten by most people within five years. Then where are you? Nowhere.

Another possibility is the real name may get tarnished. What if Facebook does something monumentally stupid after your novel is published. If everyone hates Facebook, do you want your character to be associated with it?

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by FireWire 

It would drive me crazy if my OS produced a sound when I empty the trash or move a window.. It would be even more irritating if the sound would travel from my right speaker to my left speaker as I drag the window across the screen!

Mac OS 9?

[FireWire]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

Mac OS 9?

In what movie does this fictionnal OS is depicted? I'm kidding, I didn't mind the sounds of OS 9 They were pretty clever!

[The Final Dakar]

Jesus, what do all the winks mean?

[FireWire]

the double wink was to clearly indicate that I was making a joke

[Laminar]

Stroke.

[The Final Dakar]

Wait, is that statement a joke?

[sek929]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

My favorite part is where every computer in every movie/tv show makes noises whenever you do anything.

Worst case of this is in Transformers. Shia checks his ebay page only to be greeted by a gigantic NO BIDS window that flashes over and over again.

[Spheric Harlot]

"Heeey - this is a UNIX system! I know this!"

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

Wait, is that statement a joke?

No, I really did have a stroke from the smilies. But I'm okay now.

[angelmb]

Product integration is more than 60 years old and it is damn big business, worth $10 billion this year alone. And with all those kinect, move add-ons following your movements, eye-tracking and psycho-physiology are already there to make you less smart, so in-game advertising industry is next.

A nice article @ the NYTimes about the business behind it.

And my favorite product placement so far.

[Spheric Harlot]

[Laminar]

[The Final Dakar]

I'm helping!

[Laminar]

[Laminar]

Also, basically every movie about the future: Back to the Future, Minority Report, "I, Robot," etc.

[The Final Dakar]

pix or GTFO

[Spheric Harlot]

Not 2001.

[Laminar]

etc.

[The Final Dakar]

Um, those aren't fake.

[Laminar]

Sorry, I was referring to product placement in general.

[Stogieman]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

"Heeey - this is a UNIX system! I know this!"

I liked it when Nedry was trying to convince the Quicktime movie to give him a little more time.

[ghporter]

I don't know how much of the Back to the Future stuff was placement and how much was just cultural connection. Marty's whole world was built on materialism and his future visit showed him all the advances on the materialism he was already using. Now I just need to find whomever it is that's getting ready to introduce "Mr. Fusion" and buy in. FAST!

[downinflames68]

I liked the 2nd movie better than the other two because of that. The future products were interesting, and cool to think about.

[Helmling]

Originally Posted by Salty 

OK... so I've been wondering, I'm writing a book, and as I write if my character is doing something involving oh let's say Facebook, I just write Facebook. I don't call it FaceSpace, or MyBook, or TwitSpace or something like that, I just call it Facebook. And it seems like on TV half the time you'll get product placements in which case you say Microsoft when you mean Microsoft. In some cases the software company is evil and they're creating a giant robot to kill the children, so you call them Nanosoft. I get that. But why is it that sometimes when you see someone in a movie using a computer they're using windows, sometimes they're using Mac OS, and sometimes they're using weird hollywood OS that look like something totally different. Should I take that to mean that every time OS X or Windows show up in a show that they've got product placement deals with those shows?

I know that generally the idea is you don't want to get sued. But at the same time, how often do companies sue for these sorts of things? Should my character have an iPhone that he loves, or should he just have a glass and metal touch screen phone that he likes a lot but can't name for fear of getting sued? Or should I just ink a product placement deal with Samsung and give him a Samsung Galaxy S?

What kind of book are you writing that's going to require you to identify the brand of his phone?

[Helmling]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

There's another unfortunate downside to doing this that you should know about.

Let's say your novel is actually published. In ten years' time, is anyone going to know what a "Facebook" is? They could go bump tomorrow and be completely forgotten by most people within five years. Then where are you? Nowhere.

Yeah, cause nobody reads books with things we don't use today.

Seriously?

[Railroader]

Can you imagine reading a book today where the main character talks about how much he loves his compuserve account or his TRS80?

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Helmling 

Yeah, cause nobody reads books with things we don't use today.

Seriously?

You just answered that yourself:

Originally Posted by Helmling 

What kind of book are you writing that's going to require you to identify the brand of his phone?

Do we read the Bond books because Bond loves his little explosive Omega watch? No. We read the Bond books because Bond's a badass.

[Helmling]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

You just answered that yourself:



Do we read the Bond books because Bond loves his little explosive Omega watch? No. We read the Bond books because Bond's a badass.

I think your sarcasm detector's on the fritz.

Darn Internet and its lack of inflection.

[Helmling]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

Not 2001.

It had Pan Am on the side of the spaceship at the beginning.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

Not 2001.

Originally Posted by Helmling 

It had Pan Am on the side of the spaceship at the beginning.

That's not a product placement. MGM had to request permission to use logos for Pan Am, IBM and a few other companies because the film needed verisimilitude. Using recognizably marked but futuristic items in the film gave the feeling of advancement in technology. In 1967, of course IBM would be the most recognizable computer brand (there were few others), and Pan Am was one of the most successful airlines in history.

In 2010, there WERE a few product placements, but they were very well done. For example, in the montage of Floyd preparing for the mission, he's seen on the beach with a very slim notebook computer (in 1984!!!) drinking Budweiser from a foil pouch (a lá Capri Sun). Very smoothly inserted, very understated.

[lpkmckenna]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

Being sued is one possibility. Another is "free advertising."

This is something I can't understand: they'll pay you to include it, but they'll sue you if you include it without paying you to do it? Stupid.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by lpkmckenna 

This is something I can't understand: they'll pay you to include it, but they'll sue you if you include it without paying you to do it? Stupid.

Perfect definition of win-win

-t

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by lpkmckenna 

This is something I can't understand: they'll pay you to include it, but they'll sue you if you include it without paying you to do it? Stupid.

'Tis about control of their image - they want to make sure that nothing negative is associated with their brand.