Rich Ford Relevant to the Reading 1

Something I found interesting and relevant to the Klein reading is the use of product placement in film and on television to solidify the lifestyle-centric brand marketing of contemporary advertising. The most interesting example I could find of this was one that stood out to me since I was a child and saw "Back To The Future Part 2". I remember seeing the movie and loving it but what stood out to me was when Marty McFly reaches the future and gets his Nikes. The shoes looked like improved version of the contemporary high top but had a number of technological advances such as tying themselves. I remember wondering to myself what the future would be like and what sneakers would be like - in retrospect I was thinking about the future but through product placement the brand of the sneakers I would want in the future was already prominent in my head - I would want Nike's.

Looking back at films like this and reading Klein it became evident to me that, this type of thinking is exactly what these brands pay their advertising agencies for - to put their product and brand at the forefront of consumer group-think. I would be hard pressed to find anyone in the world who did/does not want the Nike's from Back To The Future but where the brand succeeds is in making the sneaker of the future synonymous with Nike.

The success of advertising is to get the public talking about your product and the success of contemporary advertising is to take that one step further and have the public associate a lifestyle with your product. Nike shoes are associated with athletic apparel prominence and have been through the revelation of the companies trivial business ethics and the 1990's ad campaign that caused a number of deaths in under developed neighborhoods over the sneakers.

Throughout the trials and tribulations, Nike however has come out on top. It is a global corporation with a synonymous marketing scheme, brand identity and brand association. This is due partly to product placements like that in Back To The Future, as well as the sponsorship of sports and sporting events.