Product placementless..... is it possible?

The number one spot at the box office this weekend was held by Open Session. This was Sony Pictures Animation first full length film. Surprising, no Sony products are seen within the film, unlike other Sony pictures that normally include a Sony Playstation, Sony VAIO, and/or a Sony Ericsson. In fact, Open Session is almost completely brand free.

The few brands that are spotted in Open Session are fake brands, such as a PUNiMart, Slooshies, and Nummy Bars. The main characters love the Nummy Bars which pretty much guarentees that the fake Nummy bar brand makes a strong impression. However, as of now, Sony does not plan on doing reverse product placement and licencing one of its manufacturers to make and sell these Nummy bars.

I feel like product placement has become such as big ascpect of media these days that when something doesn't use any it sticks out. For example, this weekend I participated in a photoshoot for the Ithaca College Website and prosepctive students brochure. We were allowed to pick out whatever we wanted to drink and eat and a photographer just took pictures of us sitting around a table and talking to show student life outside the classroom. However, a lot of our drinks were name brands such as Snapple and Tropicana and we had to pour them into generic cups so that we were not endurcing any products. This stuck out in my mind, maybe because I've been blogging about product placement for a few weeks, but it showed me that sometimes its almost easier to just use well known brands than to go the extra distance in trying to make sure that none appear and/or making products up such as the Nummy Bars.