One of the most blatant examples I've noticed of product placement advertising in media today comes from one of my favorite shows, America's Next Top Model. The show has become saturated with them, and as a whole, I think many people don't even notice. There's the standard mention nearly every episode of a particular magazine brand photo shoot (ElleGirl, Elle, and Seventeen being recent examples) as a prize for the winning top model. There is also the constant CoverGirl promotions, especially in the second-to-last episode when the girls compete for an ad campaign as the next CoverGirl. But this isn't enough for Tyra, so more and more often while the models are getting ready for a shoot, you can hear the fake dialog about how much a contestant "loves" a certain product. One example that stands out in my mind comes from cycle 5, when the girls are doing a photo shoot in the desert but focusing on the new Olay Quench moisturizing lotion. As they are being made up, one girl is lathered up in the lotion by a makeup artist, and says "Oh, what is that awesome smell?" The artist goes on a short speech about how good the lotion is for your skin and all the product benefits. The whole conversation just screams FAKE.
I'm not against product placement as a whole, but when it is so obviously, blatant, and scripted, I really get turned off as a viewer. I almost wanted to just change the channel after this scene because I don't want to watch commercials within my TV shows between commercials. Don't people know when enough is enough?
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