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From Galleycat
Could Product Placement Work in Books?
Do you want ads in your books? How about product placement? Today Entertainment Weekly collected clips of product placement in the soap opera, Days of Our Lives. The Cheerios placement embedded above makes us laugh, but the advertising dollars also helped keep the show on the air.
Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal touched off a publishing debate the prospect of advertisements in digital books: “With e-reader prices dropping like a stone and major tech players jumping into the book retail business, what room is left for publishers’ profits? The surprising answer: ads. They’re coming soon to a book near you.”
Could you handle strategic product placement in your favorite book or eBook? Movable Type Literary Group founder Jason Ashlock started the Twitter hashtag #adsinbooks back in August. It might be time to revisit the debate. (Via Edward Champion)
UPDATE: Reader Ted Weinstein reminds us that Fay Weldon made headlines back in 2001 for product placement in her novel, The Bulgari Connection. In addition, reader Alex Irvine shared another product placement story from 2008.
My mass market titles have been loaded with ads at the rear of the book, and I have no objection to them in ebooks--provided they don't occur in the text to distract readers from my story.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a Kindle and have only read one ebook (on my computer) but I'm with Richard - so long as they don't pop up and piss me off, I can ignore them as easily as a mosquito that doesn't bite.
ReplyDeleteNo. Ads. Ever.
ReplyDeleteI used a number of product names in my books and an overzealous copy editor flagged them all. It was resolved without violence, but I thought she was being way too picky.
ReplyDeleteI read a mystery about a decade ago that did the product placement thing. Can't remember the title or who wrote it, but a watch maker and a car company were heavily involved among others.
ReplyDeleteSometimes brands in books could contribute to the realism of the novel.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a piece on my blog and discussed pros and cons of product placement in books. You might find it interesting: http://brandsandfilms.com/2010/09/why-its-important-to-have-brands-in-books/