Sunday, May 29, 2011

THIS POST BROUGHT TO YOU BY VODKA. IT GETS YOU DRUNK. I didn't bother seeing the Morgan Spurlock movie about product placement, but this article about how Cupcake Winery is having a moment makes me think that their product placement department needs some help. It notes that the winery apparently paid for it to be placed on an episode of Glee, in which the bottle was carried around (and I believe drunk from) by Kristin Chenoweth's character. How on earth was that a good product placement? Not only does it introduce both "of age" issues (a large proportion of Glee's audience is below legal drinking age) and "responsible consumption" issues (Chenoweth's character is an alcoholic) but also taste issues--Chenoweth's character is a cheap floozy (with an admittedly spectacular voice). Why on earth would a wine company seek to promote itself in that way? "The wine for cheap floozies with a drinking problem!" isn't exactly a brand image I'd seek to cultivate.