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Product displacement is the removing of trademarked products from primarily visual media in order to avoid the payment of licensing fees, if the trademark owner objects, or if the broadcaster would prefer not to publicise a product for free, if the owners have not paid for it to be included in a programme. [1]
Product displacement can also refer to brands/companies deliberately modifying their name or logo in an attempt to make people see the logo and realize that the logo/name is not correct. This extra thinking time forces people to register the real brand. This method can be more effective than product placement. [2]
Product displacement is usually achieved via digital pixelation, though prior to the widespread availability of computer post-production, stagehands would cover up brands on bottles, etc., using tape, or by using fake labels. This was called "greeking" and the term is now used for the digital process as well. [1]
There are two types of product displacements within the industry, which are identified as fictionalized and unbranded product displacements.
Fictionalized product displacement is often used by directors or production staff to use a completely fictional brand and/or product which closely resembles and mimics a non-fictional product or brand. This is often done, so the viewers can make close correlation with an already existing non-fictional brand that they may use on a daily basis without having to create another fictional dimension for a separate product altogether. Some of the most popular TV series over the past decade have used this technique to allow their viewers to make that clear distinction, especially shows such as Scrubs , where the protagonists are often seen mingling at a coffee shop known as "Coffee Bucks" which closely resembles the logo, colour and theme of a Starbucks. Similarly other TV shows such as My Name Is Earl also used similar technique with the fictional candy bar by the name of TitTat Candy, which closely resembles the Kit Kat chocolate bar, offered by The Hershey Company. [3]
Unbranded product displacement is used when a marketer makes a known effort to hide or pixelate the logo of non-fictional company or product within a specific advertisement, TV show, or movie. Within unbranded product displacement there are two different ways that can be used to hide or pixelate a non-fictional product or brand. Either through "digital alternation" where the brand is pixelated, erased, and or hidden digitally, or through physical removal of a brand, such as removing the logo of a car from its front grill. [4]
A TV or film studio does not need permission from a company to display or mention its products or service in media form. Warner Bros. Television's The Big Bang Theory used The Cheesecake Factory as a setting without any formal arrangement with the chain. [5]
According to Danny Boyle, director of the Oscar-winning 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire , the producers had to resort to "product displacement" when companies such as Mercedes refused to allow their products to be used in non-flattering settings, in this case, a slum. This forced the filmmakers to digitally remove logos in post-production, costing "tens of thousands of pounds". [6]
The practice of product displacement is also frequently seen on reality television, which do not have clearance to display the logos or products of non-sponsor companies. This accounts for the frequent appearance of pixel mosaics and blurring of logo T-shirts, soda cans or bottles, and other instances on shows such as America's Next Top Model , Survivor , Dr. Phil and The Real World .
The 2011 film Dark Horse was denied permission to film inside a Toys "R" Us, so director Todd Solondz fogged out the logo. [7]
The 1978 film Grease was originally shot with several scenes containing Coca-Cola–branded paraphernalia. Producer Allan Carr had signed a product placement deal with Coke's rival, Pepsi; after filming had wrapped, Coca-Cola ordered director Randal Kleiser to remove the Coke trademarks. [8] [9] Coca-Cola later sponsored the 2016 TV remake. [10] [11]
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings each day. Coca-Cola ranked No. 94 in the 2024 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue. Based on Interbrand's "best global brand" study of 2023, Coca-Cola was the world's sixth most valuable brand.
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo. As of 2023, Pepsi is the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long-standing rivalry in what has been called the "cola wars".
Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of this is done by loaning products, especially when expensive items, such as vehicles, are involved. In 2021, the agreements between brand owners and films and television programs were worth more than US$20 billion.
New Coke was the unofficial name of a reformulation of the soft drink Coca-Cola, introduced by the Coca-Cola Company in April 1985. It was renamed Coke II in 1990, and discontinued in July 2002.
Fanta is an American-owned brand of fruit-flavored carbonated soft drink created by Coca-Cola Deutschland under the leadership of German businessman Max Keith. There are over 200 flavors worldwide. Fanta originated in Germany as a Coca-Cola alternative in 1941 due to the American trade embargo of Nazi Germany which affected the availability of Coca-Cola ingredients. Fanta soon dominated the German market with three million cases sold in 1943. The current formulation of Fanta, with orange flavor, was developed in Italy in 1955.
Inca Kola is a soft drink that was created in Peru in 1935 by British immigrant Joseph Robinson Lindley. The soda has a sweet, fruity flavor that somewhat resembles its main ingredient, lemon verbena. Americans compare its flavor to bubblegum or cream soda, and it is sometimes categorized as a champagne cola.
Dasani is a brand of bottled water created by the Coca-Cola Company, launched in 1999. It is one of many brands of Coca-Cola bottled water sold around the world. The product is filtered and bottled.
Tab was a diet cola soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company, introduced in 1963 and discontinued in 2020. The company's first diet drink, Tab was popular among some people throughout the 1960s and 1970s as an alternative to Coca-Cola. Several variations were made, including a number of fruit-flavored, root beer, and ginger ale versions. Caffeine-free and clear variations were released in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Surge is a citrus-flavored soft drink first produced in the 1990s by the Coca-Cola Company to compete with Pepsi's Mountain Dew. Surge was advertised as having a more "hardcore" edge, much like Mountain Dew's advertising at the time, in an attempt to lure customers away from Pepsi. It was originally launched in Norway as Urge in 1996, and was so popular that it was released in the United States as Surge in 1997. Lagging sales caused production to be ended in 2003 for most markets.
Thums Up is a brand of cola. It was introduced in 1977 to offset the withdrawal of The Coca-Cola Company from India. The brand was later bought by Coca-Cola who re-launched it in order to compete against Pepsi to capture the market.
Fresca is a grapefruit-flavored citrus soft drink created by The Coca-Cola Company. Borrowing the word Fresca from Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, it was introduced in the United States in 1966. Originally a bottled sugar-free diet soda, sugar sweetened versions were introduced in some markets.
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It manufactures, sells and markets soft drinks including Coca-Cola, other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. Its stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is a component of the DJIA and the S&P 500 and S&P 100 indexes.
Mello Yello is a highly caffeinated, citrus-flavored soft drink produced, distributed and created by the Coca-Cola Company that was introduced on March 12, 1979, to compete with PepsiCo's Mountain Dew.
Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, commonly known as Coke Zero, is a diet cola produced by the Coca-Cola Company.
A fictional brand is a non-existing brand used in artistic or entertainment productions, such as paintings, books, comics, movies, TV serials, and music. The fictional brand may be designed to imitate, satirize or differentiate itself from a real corporate brand. Such a device may be required where real corporations are unwilling to license their brand names for use in the fictional work, particularly where the work holds the product in a negative light.
Pepsi Invaders is a non-commercially released 1983 fixed shooter video game developed by Atari, Inc. for the Atari 2600. It was commissioned by The Coca-Cola Company to be handed out to salespeople at their 1983 sales convention. A reskin of the system's version of Space Invaders, the player shoots down a flying formation of letters spelling "PEPSI", Coca-Cola's long-time rival. Only 125 copies were distributed.
NOS is an energy drink sold in 16-and-24-US-fluid-ounce cans. The drink was also distributed in a bottle designed to look like a NOS tank but this bottle has been discontinued. Formerly a property of the Coca-Cola Company, it is currently produced by Monster Beverage and licensed by Holley Performance, which owns the trademark. NOS contains 160 mg of caffeine, with an unknown amount of taurine and guarana. L-Theanine was removed as a "CMPLX6" ingredient in 2016, with inositol becoming listed as one of the six featured ingredients on the can. NOS Energy is currently available in Original, GT Grape, and Sonic Sour.
Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink. Dr. Pepper was created in the 1880s by the American pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, and was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904. It is manufactured by Keurig Dr Pepper in the United States, by The Coca-Cola Company in the United Kingdom, Japan, and South Korea, and by PepsiCo in Canada and Europe. Variants include Diet Dr Pepper and, beginning in the 2000s, a line of additional flavors.
The Coca-Cola sign is an electro-kinetic sculpture on the Two Times Square building in Times Square, Manhattan, New York City. The current sign, installed in 2017, is 68 feet (21 m) tall and 42 feet (13 m) wide, and is the latest in a line of Coca-Cola Times Square signs dating back to 1920.
Sprite is a clear, lemon-lime flavored soft drink created by the Coca-Cola Company. Sprite comes in multiple flavors, including cranberry, cherry, grape, orange, tropical, ginger, and vanilla. Ice, peach, Berryclear remix, and newer versions of the drinks are artificially sweetened. Sprite was created to compete primarily against 7-Up.