Product Placement in Presidential Speech?
Yesterday, at Barack Obama's speech, there were three attractive guys wearing very broadly recognizable Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirts. They were basically the only people standing behind Obama that the camera was able to capture. Naturally, a lot of buzz began criticizing Abercrombie for using product placement at a presidential rally. Tom Lennox, vice president of corporate productions at A&F said that they had nothing to do with the men in the shirts. Apparently A&F has no idea who the men (one of them holding a sign in support of Obama that is not the official sign of support, but rather a pink marker drawn sign in inappropriate font) even are.
Lennox also reports that he doesn't mind the product placement, and it's nice to get a little free advertising; however, there are many speculations being made that it is the Obama campaign behind the three shirt-wearers to gain back the gay vote that has recently been lost by the hopeful Democratic candidate. Bloggers are going crazy over what this means for the Obama campaign as well as what it means for Abercrombie & Fitch, due to the fact that the three shirts were so out loud that much of Obama's speech topics were lost having taken the back burner to the logos.
Here's the link:
http://adage.com/campaigntrail/post?article_id=126613
posted by shannon mcconnell @ 4:26 PM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
I think it's pretty interesting that this situation occurred. Of course it could have been a complete coincidence, but if it really looked like 3 legitimate abercrombie models that were all right next to each other in support of Obabma, maybe the company was really trying to gain some free advertising and relate itself to support of an issue, but of course the company heads would never admit that. Interesting guerilla marketing either way.
I found this blog pretty interesting and it's hard to tell whether it was product placement by Abercrombie & Fitch, or if it was part of Obama's campaign. Personally I think it might have had more to do with product placement. I think this mainly because of the handmade signs written in the wrong fonts, which I don't think would've occurred if they were placed there through Obama. It's a smart marketing technique and seems to work to both their favors.
I'm not too sure about this. I agree with Alexa that if Obama wanted these three guys to be stratigically placed there, then the sign would have be legitimate and not handmade. However, a handmade sign would make it appear to be a coincidence. If I had to pick who may have done this "product placement" on purpose, I would say Abercrombie & Fitch. They could have wanted to be seen as a company backing a presidential candidate. Afterall, I don't really know why else three model-esque guys would all be wearing the same shirt at the same time other than to make some sort of statement.
The reason that brands like Abercrombie and Fitch make so many garments displaying their brand name is to take advantage of free advertising. Although the public can continue to conspire about motives of the "Abercrombie men," I find it baffling that people could be up in arms about the possibility of product placement. Rather than criticizing Obama or Abercrombie, everyone should stop what they are doing and count how many brand names are visible around them. It is easy to forget about how much advertising surrounds us; how much brands have become part of our lives.
I know, I know. The political process is supposes to be unaffected by the commercial realm. That, however, is simply not the world that we call home.
Also,since when is Abercrombie associated with homosexuality?
You know. Life is funny. On any commercial on TV, if they are using everyday people, the logos on their shirts are blotted out. It could say "March of Dimes" on it and it is blurred out. I understand that nothing could be done while this was taped live, but you mean to tell me that before airing this, the tape could not have been edited? There is something else behind this. There is always some one else behind what we see. If we as consumers, as viewers and bystanders don't know by now that everything we see is some one's view on the subject, then we have not been watching hard enough yet.
Then again, there is always the chance that three random guys sat next to each other who just so happen to have an A&F shirt as their only means of 'decent dress'.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home