Why Does That Have To Be Here?

Product Placement in film or TV something I have a love-hate relationship with. It makes me feel like Big Brother is out there controlling what I like or want to buy. And I don't want to feel like 1984 is real. In a free world, humans should be able to buy and like whatever they darn-tootin-want-to. It shouldn't be a forced phenomenon. This is why I have an issue with Product Placement. It makes me feel like whether I want to buy something or not, I'm conned into liking the product or buying the product because I can't get the image of it being associated with the movie franchise or the actor/actress out of my head! I don't like feeling "conned." This is why I am not a fan of subliminal messages, but that's a subject for another blog.

Chapter 5 "It's a Branded New World.." in Storytelling in the Media Convergence Age mentions that product placement is "a century old phenomenon." But what really struck me in the chapter was this line reading: " The story and the setting require certain products anyway, but in the case of product placement, you simply make them more visible; you stress the logo, display the features.." After this read that sentence, I thought of all of the times I've seen brands/logos in films, and it made me realize, for the first time, that the reason the products are there in the first place is because as humans we live with products! Of course, a paper cup shouldn't have to be advertised as a dixie cup, or a solo cup, but I suppose having everything branded makes things more realistic. After all, you go to your local grocery store and you buy X Brand Cookies, so if you see the characters in your favorite TV show or movie are eating X Brand Cookies, you feel at one with the character. You have one of those, "hey, she's just like me" moments, and I suppose that unwittingly makes the viewer sympathize with that character's circumstance. It also effects the rhetorical value. If the mean character in movie is wearing a shirt from a store you shop at, or maybe even a shirt you own, and you see them behave a certain way in a movie or a TV show are you suddenly going to associate yourself with that character the next time you wear that shirt? The next time you drink X Brand juice are you going to think of the characters in your favorite TV show or movie?

It's no coincidence Jerry is drinking Tropicana or the cereal boxes are what they are.

I really hate product placement in music videos. That's the cheesiest. It makes the music feel less authentic because somehow in music videos product placement really comes off as advertising, whereas on TV or in movies it's more subtle. I wonder if I'm the only one who feels this way.

Musicians should stick to performance music videos

But getting back to the point in Chapter 5. "The story and setting require certain products." This sentence just bothers me! I feel like it's so true, but yet, why do we have to make everything about advertising, and yet, advertising makes everything more realistic, which in turn makes the viewer sympathize more with the character's circumstance.

"The story and setting require certain products." I think the reason this sentence annoys me is because it's the idea of products. Why does a story need products within in it? The products are just there. They aren't doing anything to the rhetorical value of the story except making the character's more realistic, and more like us, but they aren't furthering or helping the rhetorical value. Or are they? I don't know. It's a tough call.

Every decade has its music.

I was recently going through my itunes library. I realized I have a huge conglomerate of music in my library, being that music has pretty much been my obsession since I was 11 years old. Over the years, I've collected, bought, been exposed to so many different types of music, so many different sounds that it honestly surprises me I am not pursuing a career in music. But most importantly, it really amazed me how much music and pop culture has changed over the past 20 years.

 I'm a 90's kid and when I look back on the music of the 90's, I remember being in elementary/middle school, and watching shows like MTV's TRL, and being excited when Carson Daly would premiere the days top videos.

Carson Daly with NSYNC on MTV's TRL

There was no YouTube. There was no "i-anything." I  swore by my walkman, my radio, and TV. That was how I discovered music. And that was how I discovered a little band called, No Doubt.

I remember first hearing No Doubt's song, "Don't Speak" on the radio. I didn't know who sang the song, but I knew I loved it. I had to listen to the song 5 separate times on the radio before the DJ finally revealed to me, "that was No Doubt." Once I found out who the band was, I went to my local library, and checked out the cd. I fell in love. Two weeks later, I bought my own copy of the cd, and I've had it ever since.

Does anyone else remember rockin' to the radio?

But if you ask an 11 or 12 year old today how they discover the new popular sounds of the time, they're not going to be able to tell you a quaint little story like that. They'll tell you they found the song on YouTube, Spotify or Pandora, while they were looking for some other song on those same services. We live in a different world these days.

But what does that have to do with me going through my itunes library, you ask.
In going through my itunes library, I realized how much music is a reflection of the pop culture of the time period. In the 60's everything was hippie-ish, a reflection of the music. In the 80's, similarly  everything was hair bands/pop glam, a reflection of the music. In the 90's the sound was more punk-raw. As such, a more DIY aesthetic was embraced by the world. I remember splattering paint on my jean overalls because I wanted to be cool. Or because I saw that in music video or something.

Yes, the rumors are true. Overalls were a huge staple in the 90's.

The 2000's saw a split in music. Everything was either emo-fied to death (no pun intended) or hip-hopified to death. And look at the fashion of that time period. The emofication of the 2000's is the whole reason why skinny jeans emerged as a fashion trend. They were considered a staple of the scene mid-2000's, (only the cool "music" kids wore them) now they're so generic, it makes me sad.

Wondering where the skinny jean craze came from? Blame the

emo trend!

The 2010's saw the midst of an alternative universe, as I like to call it. Even the poppiest of popstars have committed to a more alternative vibe. Take Lady Gaga's latest release "Million Reasons" --which I'm proud to say I discovered her new song on my car radio. I still listen and love the radio. I guess I'm old school like that. But everything is "alternative" these days. And if you look at pop culture as a whole, you can see that reflection of the push for alternative.  Today, in 2017, it's okay to "be yourself," whoever you are. As a culture, we embrace the alternative. It's so much cooler to make a gofund me page than to work with a corporation. It's much cooler to post your music to sites like Soundcloud, or Spotify.

If there's one thing I learned from going through my itunes library, it's that music and pop culture intermix a lot. In going through my music library, it's almost as if I was able to pick out which song came from which decade strictly based on the song/style of music.

I think that's something that's important to point out, as it tells us something about the evolution of pop culture and society through the years.