When Movie Stars Become Brands [59:25]

So, yeah. I can't watch the full hour, but I skipped through and get the point.

Essentially, there used to be some guardrails around direct advertising in movies and TV after everyone selling ad time in the 50's-70's got multiple generations hooked on cigarettes and booze. Then it shifted from smokes to Coca-Cola which was in literally every movie in the 00's, and now it's websites.

The trick is, you can leave these brands anywhere in sight on screen, as long as you don't directly tell the audience they need to buy it.

Bottle of Aviator Gin in a bar shot, sure.

Brawny paper towels in a janitorial closet, why not?

You just can't draw attention to it. It's a foolish distinction now because it's been getting abused for so long, but until there are direct bans on all brands on screen - which seems kind of impossible - this will be a thing. Even more so now that you can quickly work AI generated billboard scenes in wherever you want without having to CGI or film it anymore. Sucks.

Edit: This is a perfect (though comedic) example of how it still works - https://youtu.be/5OHxP7pnwPg

I have no problem with it, but not watching a one hour video about it. Brands in entertainment has existed for decades, it’s just now, the actors are benefiting instead of the studios.