Product Displacement on NBC’s Heroes
Nissan Rogue, shipment of iPods disappear on NBC hit.
By Joel Topcik -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/6/2007 6:26:00 AM MT
NBC’s supernatural drama, Heroes, may be pioneering a new form of product integration: Call it product displacement.
After Claire the cheerleader (yes, she was saved) received a Nissan Rogue as a gift in the season opener, the car went missing in last week’s episode, leading some to wonder if the show’s long-standing deal with Nissan had gone with it (nope, the Rogue reportedly will return).
More curious, however, is the plotline involving Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) and a missing shipment of iPods. Considering NBC Universal’s decision last month to pull its programs off Apple’s iTunes over pricing issues, this struck us as more like product diss-ment. (Indeed, Heroes was among the most popular downloads at iTunes.)
Pure coincidence, said a Universal Media Studios representative. The episode was shot last June.
Unlike the Rogue, however, we won’t find out what happened to the iPods in future episodes. Said the studio rep: "They just kind of dropped that."
With Anne Becker
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I liked how they worked the Rogue into the plotline of Heroes. I wasn't distracted by the...
Abigail G - 2007-24-10 08:57:00 -
yeah well this is is strange but I am a heroe so I can save the day! I mean what can ya say...
sean liebel - 2007-11-10 06:47:00
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