Tag: product placement

For a grown man in his early thirties, I’ve had toys on my mind a lot recently. Sure, I have a three year old son who can’t get enough of the plastic things and yes, a beloved retail chain from my childhood recently did go into administration, but that’s not what’s causing my mind to wander towards Funko bobbleheads and Paw Patrol action figures. No, I am trying to wrap my head around what must be the most mind-boggling YouTube sensation in years: unboxing.

Author: Louise Watson

This year I’ve again been sticking to my yearly tradition of watching The X Factor in the run-up to Christmas. If you’ve been following it too, chances are you will have noticed the glaringly obvious product placements. If however you haven’t been staying in every Saturday and Sunday night to watch it, let me explain – the lines the contestants deliver about a whole variety of brands, from airlines to mobile phone networks and even printers, are so blatant and frequent that they lack any subtlety whatsoever! Every time a brand is namedropped on the programme, I cringe at how unnatural and uncomfortable the contestants look using the product name in their everyday conversations.