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[00:00.44] We're talking about product placement.
[00:03.35] Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, has grown both on TV and on the big screen.
[00:11.32] OK, OK, Jackie, I've heard of product placement but what exactly is it?
[00:15.84] Well, basically it means a deliberate inclusion of a product or a brand for promotional purposes.
[00:23.81] If we think about, Richard, think about the 1986 film, Top Gun, right?
[00:29.65] Oh, one of my favourites.
[00:31.78] Now there's a particular product worn by many of the characters but especially by Tom Cruise, Maverick, right?
[00:39.48] I know this, I know this, he's so cool, isn't he?
[00:42.93] Because of the aviator sunglasses.
[00:45.59] Yeah, so... Ray-Bans.
[00:47.71] Exactly. Now, they're a brand of luxury sunglasses, right?
[00:51.17] And they became hugely popular then, didn't they?
[00:53.82] They struck a deal with the producers so that in the film, Tom Cruise and his fellow Navy colleagues wore aviators.
[01:00.99] You said they became hugely popular.
[01:03.12] As a result, the sales of aviator sunglasses rose by 40%.
[01:07.90] Wow, good deal. Yeah.
[01:11.62] OK, another film, Richard, I want you to think about another film, right? Year 2000, big film, Cast Away.
[01:19.06] Tom Hanks, right?
[01:21.71] Tom Hanks. What was a significant product placement, do you think, in that film?
[01:27.56] Well, I can't think of one because he was abandoned on a desert island.
[01:31.01] Who did he work for? Did he work for a courier company?
[01:35.26] Yeah, yeah, throughout the film, references to this courier company.
[01:40.57] They obviously went over my head.
[01:42.70] Was it FedEx? Yes.
[01:45.09] Yeah. Now, the interesting thing was, when they wrote the film, when they produced the film, they wanted it to be real life.
[01:52.79] Right, OK.
[01:53.59] So, they didn't want to make up a courier, a transport company. Right.
[01:58.37] So, they wrote to FedEx and said, can our hero be a FedEx employee?
[02:05.01] Now, they read the script and they said no.
[02:08.73] Oh. Well, what happens in the film?
[02:11.65] Well, he crashes, doesn't he?
[02:12.98] The FedEx plane... The FedEx plane crashes, so that's not very good.
[02:16.70] But then they realised that the overall... Yes, overall, it was... everything happened... everything was well in the end.
[02:23.60] Yes, of course.
[02:25.20] And as a result of the film, FedEx became much more famous in Asia and Europe, not just in the US. So, two films.
[02:34.23] In the first film, Ray-Ban paid for their product placement.
[02:40.60] In the second film, FedEx didn't pay.
[02:44.06] Now, in those two films, the products appeared throughout the whole film.
[02:49.63] Right, yes. They were key parts of the film. Yes.
[02:53.09] But, however, it is possible for a few seconds to change a company's fortune. Oh, do tell.
[02:59.20] In 2020, Parasite became the first non-English language film to win an Oscar in the Best Picture category.
[03:10.35] Do you know what nationality the director is?
[03:14.60] Is he Spanish or Italian? South Korean.
[03:18.59] Ah, yes. It's a South Korean.
[03:21.77] But it's interesting because there is the Spanish connection here.
[03:24.16] In one of the scenes, very briefly, a can of crisps called Bonilla a la Vista appeared on the film.
[03:34.26] Very, very briefly.
[03:35.32] And sales went through the roof.
[03:37.18] Well, it was already a recognised brand in South Korea, but as soon as they saw it in the film, which was hugely popular, the sales have rocketed.
[03:46.74] It surged by 150%.
[03:49.40] Wow. I tell you what, though, Jackie, we've got loads of members from South Korea.
