What sort of control does a company have over product placement like this? I know that Microsoft has to pay to get their products to appear on screen anywhere, but Apple does not. If I were a film maker and I wanted to put an Apple product on screen without any of Apple's approval/disapproval would I be completely free to do what I want?
Apple does pay, but traditionally in product rather than cash.
More recently they've had to modify tactics and enter into paid promotion contracts with some media companies which is why you now see “promotional consideration sponsored by Apple" far more often than just two or three years ago. Why would they have to pay? Studio and broadcast media increasingly see Apple as a competitor rather than helpful partner and are far less apt to show them on screen in exchange for a couple of computers and a few iPhones.
Years ago, the filmmakers paid for product placements. Then someone figured out that it's the studios who should be getting paid and it's since become a big business with agencies cropping up just for product placements. I doubt it has anything to do with film production companies seeing Apple as a competitor.
Sometimes, if a director really wants a particular product in the movie because it's an appropriate prop, the product company doesn't pay. I used to work for a publisher and we had a big set of books for the legal industry that frequently showed up in movies. We developed a set that was hollowed out on the inside so they wouldn't be so heavy. Well before Google, we also had CD-ROM products. One filmmaker wanted one of those products for a well-known movie, but he insisted on one of the products from an international division even though the plot took place in the U.S. AND he wanted shelves full of them. I actually manufactured more product just for the movie and in the end, they didn't use it or it wasn't noticeable and they could have used some empty boxes and wrapping paper and it wouldn't have made a difference. Another famous film has the characters going to the library to search something related to the pattern of a murderer (before Google) and they wanted to use our search product and interface. We supplied a special version that would display what they wanted and once again, it wasn't used for the film. After that, I stopped going out of my way for filmmakers. We'd only supply off-the-shelf product.
And when there's no specific deal, every prop in a movie that has a copyright or trademark has to be cleared, even a poster hanging in the background of a living room set or a book jacket or magazine. I personally think that if something is just in the background and not an integral part of the plot, it should be considered fair use, but that's not the current law.
I binge watched the new Apple TV+ comedy about the video game industry last week. (It was good, but not amazing.) I found it interesting that Windows PCs and laptops were features prominently. I appreciated that Apple didn't insist that everyone be using MacBooks and iMacs.
There is a long standing history surrounding this. Remember the TV show 24? You could tell bad guys would soon be good guys since they were using iPhones. Pretty sure the same restrictions have existed with the Mac for a long time, also.
jcs2305 said: I was also thinking the same thing as well, but he specifically mentions mystery movies? So is the Morning show ok because it isn't a mystery movie? Hahaha
Just a weird comment for RJ to make..
Not weird at all. First, he's probably using 'mystery' as a catch all for thriller, crime, and other genres.
Second, he's implying that if you're watching one of those and you see someone using an iPhone, they're probably a Good Guy. Conversely, if you see someone using a phone that's not an iPhone, they're probably a Bad Guy. In some genres, we're meant not to know who is ultimately the killer, etc., until the very end. Had Jeff Bridges used a phone in Jagged Edge, we'd have known he was the Bad Guy because it wouldn't have been an iPhone. Had there been iPhones and others back then.
I bet Apple's policy goes back much farther than the San Bernardino killings. It's based on the Good Guys wear White Hats tradition. When US Federal agencies used SIG firearms, all the GGs in TV and movies used the same and Baddies used Glocks, often held sideways because that's so much deadlier. Except for Bond, Burke, Morse and a very few others, Baddies drove flash cars while the good guys drove more pedestrian vehicles down to an old 403 Peugot ragtop. Associations are made by art imitating life.
I binge watched the new Apple TV+ comedy about the video game industry last week. (It was good, but not amazing.) I found it interesting that Windows PCs and laptops were features prominently. I appreciated that Apple didn't insist that everyone be using MacBooks and iMacs.
Gave up on that series after the second episode. Felt like too much of a Silicon Valley rip-off.
I binge watched the new Apple TV+ comedy about the video game industry last week. (It was good, but not amazing.) I found it interesting that Windows PCs and laptops were features prominently. I appreciated that Apple didn't insist that everyone be using MacBooks and iMacs.
Gave up on that series after the second episode. Felt like too much of a Silicon Valley rip-off.
I didn't watch Silicon Valley, so I enjoyed Mythic Quest. I'm looking forward to a second season.
I binge watched the new Apple TV+ comedy about the video game industry last week. (It was good, but not amazing.) I found it interesting that Windows PCs and laptops were features prominently. I appreciated that Apple didn't insist that everyone be using MacBooks and iMacs.
Might be an in joke. I have a book about workplaces that features Microsofts gaming division and every computer is a Mac.
I binge watched the new Apple TV+ comedy about the video game industry last week. (It was good, but not amazing.) I found it interesting that Windows PCs and laptops were features prominently. I appreciated that Apple didn't insist that everyone be using MacBooks and iMacs.
Gave up on that series after the second episode. Felt like too much of a Silicon Valley rip-off.
So there can’t be any additional comedies that take place in a company where people write software? Hmm.
I binge watched the new Apple TV+ comedy about the video game industry last week. (It was good, but not amazing.) I found it interesting that Windows PCs and laptops were features prominently. I appreciated that Apple didn't insist that everyone be using MacBooks and iMacs.
Not only that, I thought I saw a MB with its logo covered like other shows do.
Nanny State Apple "We're going to make the seats hug when you turn the wheel so you never have to feel in danger" "We're going to ban all nudity and cursing and "hate" speech in all of our content" "We're going to ban all apps we don't like and don't fit out "ethics"" "We're going to ban movie bad guys from using iPhones"
Nanny State Apple "We're going to make the seats hug when you turn the wheel so you never have to feel in danger" "We're going to ban all nudity and cursing and "hate" speech in all of our content" "We're going to ban all apps we don't like and don't fit out "ethics"" "We're going to ban movie bad guys from using iPhones"
My God, this IS 1984.
Apple TV shows have swearing, most it completely out of place and of no value to the story.
Well yes we are living in 1984 but tht is little to do with Apple.
Comments
Sometimes, if a director really wants a particular product in the movie because it's an appropriate prop, the product company doesn't pay. I used to work for a publisher and we had a big set of books for the legal industry that frequently showed up in movies. We developed a set that was hollowed out on the inside so they wouldn't be so heavy. Well before Google, we also had CD-ROM products. One filmmaker wanted one of those products for a well-known movie, but he insisted on one of the products from an international division even though the plot took place in the U.S. AND he wanted shelves full of them. I actually manufactured more product just for the movie and in the end, they didn't use it or it wasn't noticeable and they could have used some empty boxes and wrapping paper and it wouldn't have made a difference. Another famous film has the characters going to the library to search something related to the pattern of a murderer (before Google) and they wanted to use our search product and interface. We supplied a special version that would display what they wanted and once again, it wasn't used for the film. After that, I stopped going out of my way for filmmakers. We'd only supply off-the-shelf product.
And when there's no specific deal, every prop in a movie that has a copyright or trademark has to be cleared, even a poster hanging in the background of a living room set or a book jacket or magazine. I personally think that if something is just in the background and not an integral part of the plot, it should be considered fair use, but that's not the current law.
I LOVE the way the company still tries to sweat the details...
Second, he's implying that if you're watching one of those and you see someone using an iPhone, they're probably a Good Guy. Conversely, if you see someone using a phone that's not an iPhone, they're probably a Bad Guy. In some genres, we're meant not to know who is ultimately the killer, etc., until the very end. Had Jeff Bridges used a phone in Jagged Edge, we'd have known he was the Bad Guy because it wouldn't have been an iPhone. Had there been iPhones and others back then.
I bet Apple's policy goes back much farther than the San Bernardino killings. It's based on the Good Guys wear White Hats tradition. When US Federal agencies used SIG firearms, all the GGs in TV and movies used the same and Baddies used Glocks, often held sideways because that's so much deadlier. Except for Bond, Burke, Morse and a very few others, Baddies drove flash cars while the good guys drove more pedestrian vehicles down to an old 403 Peugot ragtop. Associations are made by art imitating life.
I didn't watch Silicon Valley, so I enjoyed Mythic Quest. I'm looking forward to a second season.
I have a book about workplaces that features Microsofts gaming division and every computer is a Mac.
Not only that, I thought I saw a MB with its logo covered like other shows do.
"We're going to make the seats hug when you turn the wheel so you never have to feel in danger"
"We're going to ban all nudity and cursing and "hate" speech in all of our content"
"We're going to ban all apps we don't like and don't fit out "ethics""
"We're going to ban movie bad guys from using iPhones"
My God, this IS 1984.