Watching 30 Rock

Hollywood Reporter recently published an article about product placement in 30 Rock. Anyone who watches the show on a regular basis has noticed the product placements and the clever way the show deals with them …. basically by making fun of both the product being placed and themselves for, uh, placing it. Here’s an example, from the recent episode “Somebody to Love:”

According to the article linked above, Nielson tracked almost 13 minutes worth of product placements this season on 30 Rock. I have to say that some of those placements must not be working so well, because I can’t say that I remember what they are. I remember Verizon from the clip above, because it was one of the most obvious (and funniest) and one from last season, involving all the writers complaining about being forced to do product integration, then all talking about how much they love Snapple. (I also remember the guy in the Snapple suit because, again, that was some funny stuff.)

Some people might be offended by obvious product placement in their favorite shows, but honestly, it doesn’t really bother me, at least not in the case of 30 Rock or another favorite show of mine, The Office, which according to the Hollywood Reporter article, has had 42 minutes worth of product placement this season. I don’t mind because with these two shows, the product placements are logically worked into the flow of the episode. The Snapple joke was funny, because the plot had the writers complaining about Jack forcing them to do product placements. The Verizon joke was funny because it was so direct. And honestly, I would be more likely to buy a product that is willing to make fun of itself while supporting a smart and edgy show that I want to see stick around for awhile. The same can be said for The Office. Staples has had placement on The Office and that makes sense because it’s a show about a paper company. If it flows and/or is funny and supports our favorite shows, then why not? I think some people forget that watching television shows is really free. (It doesn’t feel free to those of us with satellite or cable, but that is another blog entry.) Without advertising, we wouldn’t have a lot of our favorite shows. Someone’s gotta pay Alec Baldwin’s salary! (This does not include that Bee Movie crap. That has got to go!)

That’s not to say that product placements won’t suddenly become extremely intrusive and annoying and that I won’t later on write an entry about how much I hate them. That is my right as a blogger. In the meantime, I am just going to keep typing this on my Macbook while drinking my tasty Diet Coke wearing my new Converse shoes and the hoodie I bought at Target.

Can we have our money now?

30 Rock, product placement, Verizon, Snapple, NBC