What have old time radio and James Bond's BMW got in common?

"Product placement refers to the positioning and use of brand name goods that are needed to create realistic sets in film and television. Everything the audience sees is part of the story."

The above is the definition of "Product Placement" taken directly from the http://www.propstarplacements.com/, which specializes in helping manufacturers get their products, whatever they might be, in front of consumers via Hollywood and TV in general. The idea is that if you see one of your favorite stars using a particular product you'll rush down to the shops and buy one too. It has apparently proved hugely successful for everyone from BMW (Pierce Brosnan drove the BMW Z3 in Golden Eye, a BMW750i in Tomorrow Never Dies, and a BMW Z8 in The World is Not Enough) down to The Coffee Beanery (Julia Roberts drinks it in Erin Brockovich)

What's this got to do with old radio shows I hear you ask. Let me explain. Product placement might seem like a pretty recent phenomenon, but it is something that is very prominent in old time radio shows. Listen to the recent episode of The Casebook of Gregory Hood and you'll find the show is sponsored by a producer of sherry and port. At the start of the show you'll hear Sandy ask Gregory and their guest whether they'd like a sherry and then after fourteen minutes they arrive at a coin dealers shop and he offers them a glass of port - definitely the audio equivalent of the visual product placement seen in today's films and on TV.

Now that I've mentioned this you'll start to find many examples of it as you listen to the shows. Observe what the advertisement is for (if there is one) at the start of the show and then listen-out for the product placement within the show. For example if it is a gas company sponsoring the show you'll often hear them pull over to fill up with gasoline at some point or if it is a tobacco company the chances are that there'll be several occasions for the stars to have a cigarette. Some are very obvious, but others are subtle, to the point of them being almost the audio equivalent of the subliminal advertising techniques they tried to use in the cinemas all those years ago.

If you are interested in old advertisements there is a whole section of them on the following page.

http://www.rusc.com/misc/old-time-commercials/index.html

Happy listening my friends,