Brian Damage
03-29-2006, 11:32 AM
BY KEVIN McDONOUGH
Newsday
Television product placements are here to stay. But are all such plugs a good thing? How about brand-name items consumed by characters with bad reputations? Like the mob family on The Sopranos?
A spokeswoman for HBO denies that the network takes money to place products, and that everything you see on The Sopranos is driven by the creators' efforts to depict Tony's suburban gangster lifestyle.
But a recent episode included scenes that unfolded like product placements, or perhaps a parody of a product placement. Tony surprised Carmela with the keys to a Porsche Cayenne Turbo, a luxury SUV with a sticker price of roughly $112,000. Carmela got behind the wheel and exclaimed, ''What a car!'' Later she showed it off to incarcerated mobster's Johnny Sack's cash-strapped wife, informing her it was, ``A Porsche Cayenne. Like the pepper.''
Ephraim Likerman, general manager of Porsche of Huntington, on Long Island, N.Y., had no qualms about the plug. Or the nonplug, if you will.
What about associating your product with a mobster's wife?
''It doesn't matter,'' explained Likerman. ``Tony is still trying to win back his wife. He's already given her diamonds. He didn't just give her a car. He gave her a Porsche.''
To Likerman the best part of the show was Carmela's ''pepper'' remark. ''Do you know how many times I have to explain what a Cayenne is?'' (Don't get him started on the Porsche Cayman.) ``It's a pepper. A symbol of zest, heat and potency.''
And sales?
``We've already had two people come to the dealership, mentioning the show and looking for the car.''
And this was the day after the episode aired.
''All publicity is good publicity,'' Likerman concluded.
Newsday
Television product placements are here to stay. But are all such plugs a good thing? How about brand-name items consumed by characters with bad reputations? Like the mob family on The Sopranos?
A spokeswoman for HBO denies that the network takes money to place products, and that everything you see on The Sopranos is driven by the creators' efforts to depict Tony's suburban gangster lifestyle.
But a recent episode included scenes that unfolded like product placements, or perhaps a parody of a product placement. Tony surprised Carmela with the keys to a Porsche Cayenne Turbo, a luxury SUV with a sticker price of roughly $112,000. Carmela got behind the wheel and exclaimed, ''What a car!'' Later she showed it off to incarcerated mobster's Johnny Sack's cash-strapped wife, informing her it was, ``A Porsche Cayenne. Like the pepper.''
Ephraim Likerman, general manager of Porsche of Huntington, on Long Island, N.Y., had no qualms about the plug. Or the nonplug, if you will.
What about associating your product with a mobster's wife?
''It doesn't matter,'' explained Likerman. ``Tony is still trying to win back his wife. He's already given her diamonds. He didn't just give her a car. He gave her a Porsche.''
To Likerman the best part of the show was Carmela's ''pepper'' remark. ''Do you know how many times I have to explain what a Cayenne is?'' (Don't get him started on the Porsche Cayman.) ``It's a pepper. A symbol of zest, heat and potency.''
And sales?
``We've already had two people come to the dealership, mentioning the show and looking for the car.''
And this was the day after the episode aired.
''All publicity is good publicity,'' Likerman concluded.