[pop star Fergie shills for Samsung]Mediaweek reports that XM Radio will be trying a new form of product placement within some prime-time television shows. The messages will tell viewers to go to a certain XM Radio channel to dig more of the music heard in the show. This is an outgrowth of the phenomenon in the past few years of featuring real musical acts in the background as well as in performance as part of dramas and sitcoms. While not an unheard of concept, the commodification of it via program-themed compilation CDs and now satellite radio channels is new And novel. Miami Vice did it many years ago, but the examples were few and far between after that.
It points to the ever-pervasive method of selling a concept rather than a product.
A fine example of this is in the new video by pop-star Stacey Fergeson, a.k.a. Fergie. While the star dances and sings like any other music video perfomance, things change when the product placement comes in about 2:50, as seen in the clip below. A shot of her holding the new Samsung mp3 player, seen above, shows off the biggest feature of this new player — built-in speakers. She dances with it, has fun, and so do the people around her. This portion of the video could be a commecial for Samsung; just add a logo. Repurposing!
Now that you have seen how much fun life can be, go here with your $188. You’ll be more cool than you already are. Totally.