Sorry, But Modern Family is Not a Product Placement Trophy

An Ad Age story this week on product placement in the hit ABC sitcom Modern Family finds that "producers turn down about 90% of requests" even though "advertisers are working furiously to get their goods into the hands of the characters."

On its way to anointing the show as the trophy of product placement deals, Ad Age puts forth an outlandish claim about how product placement works.

"While anyone who watches CBS's 'Hawaii Five-O' will see characters tearing up the road in sporty Chevrolets, few viewers will use the cars in the same manner. 'Modern Family,' on the other hand, puts name-brand goods in the hands of characters that incorporate them into their normal routine, in turn demonstrating exactly how most of the buying public might use them."

The suggestion that consumers aren't attracted to products that are used onscreen in unrealistic ways turns product placement history on its head. Indeed, the waiting list for BMW's Z3 came as a result of its role as James Bond's car in Goldeneye, possibly the least realistic (and most aspirational, and unattainable) role for an automobile imaginable.

Audi, a brand mentioned as a partner of Modern Family, understands this better than anyone. "Family chieftain Jay Pritchett (Ed O'Neill) was spotted in recent weeks driving an Audi A8, with another character commenting on what a nice car it was," says Ad Age. (See clip at top.)

Are we to believe that Audi's role as the ride of a brusque jerk, as tethered to reality as that is, bests Audi's role as the highway-tearing car of choice of Iron Man Tony Stark? Or how about Audi's role in the completely unbelievable Transporter series? YouTube is filled with fan-made remixes of Audi scenes from the Transporter franchise. Remixes of Audi in Modern Family? Zero.

As for Ad Age's other statements about the desirability of Modern Family to product placers (we're looking at you, Apple), one successful TV show producer told us he suspects the show's producer "pulled that 90% figure out of her ass." He added, "They come in all shapes and sizes so that makes a big difference too. Hard to actually quantify." It's also noteworthy that there was no specification as to whether the placements were paid or not. Of course a show is going to turn down offers to place products for free.

A product placement pro who places some of the market's biggest brands on TV said his experience "has been that networks are not willing to forfeit the media flight commitment in exchange for straight fees for product integration."

The product placement expert added, "While lots of companies would like to be featured without paying (probably the lion's share of the 90% of rejects), I would be surprised if a network would not be 'accommodating' if a corporation is willing to commit to a substantial media flight and request that their products receive product placement in exchange."

The Ad Age piece confirms this with a small endnote: "Though no one is giving figures, back-of-the-envelope calculations indicate it could cost thousands of dollars per second and must be done alongside a traditional TV ad buy."

In other words, it's far more likely Modern Family turns down placements not because the products would turn the characters "into a clan of shills," but because brands are unwilling to be strong-armed into also buying traditional, expensive 30-second ads.