Films and Advertising - Another way Hollywood influences people

Another way that Hollywood makes an influence on people is in the advertising that they do in films. The first company that would actually pay film producers to talk about or place their product in films was the DeBeers Diamond company. This was when films were still in black and white. They would request that the producers somehow fit diamonds into the script - possibly during an engagement scene.

Today advertising in movies is so ubiquitous that you probably don't even notice when it's happening. Corporate America uses movies to market, advertise and sell their product. Advertisers were looking for a new way to advertise, and they found it with films. Their are actually special companies called "placement agencies" that broker deals between advertisers and film producers. These placement agencies claim to have their fingers on "every script in Hollywood." (see youtube.com video below from Challenging Media). The following video says that the before the movie Dirty Harry, the 44 Magnum gun was not selling well. Then Dirty Harry said he used a 44 Magnum and sales of that gun skyrocketed. Companies took notice. The video also mentions the fact that Reeses Pieces' sales skyrocketed after E.T., and sales of Ray Ban sunglasses skyrocketed after Tom Cruise wore them in Risky Business. Companies pay film producers to advertise their product, and it saves the producers money.

Therefore, it's not just about the movies any more, it is about all the products that can be sold along with the movie. What does this do to creativity?

Take a look at the video.