Bada Bing Ka-Ching! Ching! Ching!

Wow, does Brad Grey need more money for his legal defense fund? Is Time Warner needing to squeeze even more money out of TV's most profitable network? Or is everybody connected to "The Sopranos" taking Tony's general greed-is-good outlook on life to heart?

Whatever the case, how about those product placements on last night's season opener. Marshall Letcher has the rundown:

The most obvious product placement was the new Porsche that Tony gave to Carmela. When she first saw the car, she spouted off some marketing lingo about the car. In subsequent scenes with Carmela, other characters noticed the car and offered favourable comments.

Near the beginning of the program, one of the characters gave some hot jewelry to Tony as a gift. Don’t remember the name of the products; I’m not in the market for a new watch, and would not buy any of the stuff plugged on the program anyway.

At another point in the show, they showed Bobby working on his model trains – with a close up of a Nestles Quik freight car passing buy. Also, when Tony checked his cell phone on the boat, one could clearly see Cingular on the phone screen. I know there is more, but this what I remember at the moment.

I have read numerous articles about the increase in product placement in TV programs and other media. To me, tonight’s Sopranos was a prime example.

Update: Mark Jeffries points out, and I can confirm, that HBO's policy hasn't changed. The network doesn't take any money for the products seen on its air. "We actually had to call Porsche to get clearance to mention that car in our show," says an insider. Still, it's kind of funny.

Another update: Some great comments being posted! I expect nothing less of "Sopranos" fans (esp. those who read TV Barn). Also, you did read my Sunday "Sopranos" piece, "Exit Laughing," did you not?

Comments

[John]

And don't forget the shot of the TV monitor where the center of attention wasn't really the screen, but rather the brand of the TV -- Phillips, I think.

I'm not anti-product-placement per se, but when they beat you over the head with it, it gets irritating.

[Mark Jeffries]

Does Marshall also believe that the black helicopters are following him? Has he ever heard of the word "coincidence?"

If it was really product placement, Carmela would get a Ford Focus as a gift from Tony. Like you really think a mob guy would buy something like that. And in case you've forgotten, Tony has no real interest in ever setting foot in a Mercedes-Benz dealership again.

[roy]

Unless something's gone horribly awry, HBO does not do product placement deals.

The product mentions did seem a bit heavyhanded, though.

--roy

[Aaron]

Mark's protestatations aren't convincing. I've got a call in.

[Maura]

The watches that Gene gave Tony were from the David Yurman collection.

[Jeffrey]

Twice we see Anthony Jr. eating Special K! Fruits Loops I would believe but Special K!!??

[DVDdossier]

gosh, i dunno. i seem to remember a piece (in the NY times, perhaps?) a while back discussing this very topic... and i believe the upshot was that every product or service that's mentioned or shown on HBO programs does exceedingly well, but HBO and the individual producers of each program have a policy to not accept payment of any kind.

apparently, they're just pleased that they don't have to use cans of "ACME" cola; they think real products lend an air of verisimilitude to the proceedings, especially on a show like "The Sopranos."

on the other hand, when the oh-so-hip carrie bradshaw ("Sex and the City") logged onto the internet, she uncharacteristically did so on AOL, owned by HBO's parent company, Time Warner.

was that a product placement?

(technically no, but the use of the product was no doubt massaged by the corporate parent and it certainly seemed like a product placement.)

then again, HBO has a deal with SPRINT for wireless content, but it was a CINGULAR phone that tony was using last night. (of course, the phone ran out of battery power, so it was - in a sense - a "negative" product placement, which could actually benefit sprint. the mind boggles.)

but, as tevye might say, "on the other hand..." that was indeed a slow lingering - and unnecessary - Nestle's Qwik shot on that train car.

[Stanley B. Hamilton]

Surely I'm not the only one who understood the points being made about the Soprano family's increasing materialism, and how their "upward mobilty" (complete with fetishizing the accoutrements of "class" [i.e. brand names]) is kind of a sick mirror of a particularly middle class manifestation of the "American Dream"?

As for the TV, if one can look past the fact that it was manufactured by a large conglomerate, one might have noticed that it was showing a scene from Stanley Kubrick's "Paths of Glory." For those who haven't seen the film, the excerpt is from the scene where the Adolphe Menjou's ruthless general upbraids Kirk Douglas's character: "You've spoiled the keenness of your mind by wallowing in sentimentality," the general snaps. "You are an idealist, and I pity you as I would the village idiot."

[John]

And wasn't there a completely unnecessary mention of the brand name of the new coat Vito was wearing? Right before the "Members Only" insult?

I may have to catch a rerun so I can count them all and see if I missed any.

[John]

Saw the rerun last night. The comment on Vito's suit wasn't what I thought it was.

But there were plenty of product placements we haven't mentioned yet -- Pella windows, Atkins, "jumped by 3 guys in a Lexus," Ray-Ban and Armani sunglasses, Maserati . . .

With all that product placement, why was the bottle of Coke the guy who took three in the head in the diner had turned obviously so the name WOULDN'T show?

[Mark Jeffries]

Would you rather have the 2006 Ajax and Acme sunglasses? I assume that you wouldn't have wanted "Seinfeld" to do the Snapple and Kenny Rogers Roasters jokes, too.

Conspicuous consumption is what mobsters are all about. Not having them rattle off brand names would be like telling gangsta rappers not to use the names they use for women--impossible.

Go tell David Chase to stop putting brand names in "Sopranos" scripts. I hope you're still alive.