ipl-logo

Product Placement In Carl Reiner's 1979 Film The Jerk

1409 Words6 Pages

Product Placement, Part A: The Jerk (1979) According to BusinessDictionary.com, product placement is an “advertising technique used by companies to subtly promote their products through a non-traditional advertising technique, usually through appearances in film, television, or other media.” (Product Placement, n.d.). In Carl Reiner’s 1979 film The Jerk, Steve Martin plays Navin, a young white man who believed himself to be born black. Once he realizes that he is in fact not black, Navin sets out to discover who he truly is (Motion Picture, 1979). Along the way, Navin lands his first job at an E-Z Serve gas and service station. In what is one of the movies most memorable scenes, we see cameos of E-Z Serve oil, Valvoline, and Coca-Cola. …show more content…

In 2015 alone, Franzia sold over $325 million in boxed wine. The iconic artwork of wine splashing into a glass on the box is immediately recognizable. Franzia is targeted to budget wine drinkers and alcoholic beverage consumers ages 21 and up. According to VICE, Millennials drank more wine than any other generation in 2015, accounting for 42% of all wine consumed in the United States that year (Swerdloff, 2016). Furthermore, women make up nearly 57% of the American wine market (“Wine Market Council”, 2016). The premise behind placing Franzia in American Horror Story is that the brand image is already immediately recognizable. Associating a character with Franzia would help to shape their identity for the viewer. Stereotypes that viewers already have towards Franzia consumers could actually work to benefit the development of the character. For instance, Sarah Paulson, a frequent lead in the series, could have a ritual of purchasing boxed wine or filling a glass directly from her fridge in situations of high-stress, or when she is meditating on what happened throughout the rest of her …show more content…

(2011, May 30). The Jerk (7/10) Movie CLIP - He Hates These Cans! (1979) HD [Video File]. Retrieved from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcwz8-EfFYE
Target the Subconscious Mind for Successful Advertising. (n.d.). Retrieved from: https://www.newdesigngroup.ca/blog/target-subconscious-mind-successful-advertising/
Magda, K. (2017, May 30). Does humor in advertising help sell more? Retrieved January 24, 2018, from http://psychologyformarketers.com/does-humor-in-advertising-help-sell-more/
Evry, M. (2017, September 12). AHS: Cult Ratings: 2nd Most Watched Basic Cable Shows of 2017. Retrieved January 18, from: http://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/887061-ahs-cult-ratings-2nd-most-watched-basic-cable-show-of-2017
Walker, D. (2016, March 17). Target Audience Research. Retrieved January 18, 2018 from: https://daniellewalkerdesigns.wordpress.com/2016/03/17/target-audience-research-3/
Swerdloff, A. (2016, February 15). Young Women Drink Almost Half the Wine in America. Retrieved January 24, 2018, from https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/gvkn4m/young-women-drink-almost-half-the-wine-in-america
Wine Market Council Unveils New Stats on Consumer Wine Consumption Habits. (2016, February 09). Retrieved January 23, 2018, from

Open Document