There is one movie that can get away with extensive product placement – “Sex and the City.” One expects to see the high-end brands such as Louis Vuitton, Manolo Blahnik, Oscar de la Renta and Vivienne Westwood since fashion is a key “character” of “Sex and the City.”
Given the show’s popularity among the female demographic and since the movie has been described as “the Super Bowl for women,” a brand can gain a lot from being associated with this movie. However, New Line Cinema needed to select products that would not dilute the Sex and the City brand. As Julia Boorstin puts it, “The key about good product placement is that it shouldn’t be obvious.”
In the movie, brands outside of high-end fashion designers that are strongly affiliated with the Sex and the City brand were present. The placement of Vogue seems so natural with Carrie’s photo shoot of gorgeous wedding dresses, and the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week is an appropriate tie-in with the fashion theme. Bag Borrow or Steal, which brings designer and luxury fashion brands to more people, is also mentioned.
Yet, the placement of branded bottled water in the movie seemed too “obvious” to me. Bottled water, unlike fashion or even alcohol, is not associated with the Sex and the City brand. I can understand that Glacéau wants more women to buy their Vitamin Water and Smart Water, but these two brands of water are neither made specifically for women nor do they have a clear tie-in with fashion. Therefore, the connection seems forced and even distracting.
The movie is gaining an extensive amount of promotion from sponsors, and that may be reason enough for some of the partnerships. However, I hope that in the future, New Line Cinema uses a film’s brand as a litmus test when seeking any partnerships for product placement.
