Top Gun Product Placement Examples

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The Effects of Product Placement in Top Gun on Society
Product Placement can set trends and fads in society. An example of this is in Top Gun, when Top Gun was released in the 1980s, Ray Bans Aviator sunglasses saw a surge in sales. A similar product that received great benefits from product placement was Reese’s Pieces in the 1980s, “The placement of Reese’s Pieces in E.T. was credited with temporarily tripling sales …” (Newell, Salmon, and Chang 589). The publicity and popularity of the film created a trend where everyone wanted to have a set of sunglasses like Maverick. This trend was established using product placement coupled with the director’s cinematic techniques and portrayals of the film. An example of the cinematic techniques used …show more content…

The acting by Tom Cruise added to the characterization of Maverick using body language and attitude that Cruise was able to portray through the screen. The director and screenwriter portrayed Maverick as a hot-shot, American Hero and Tom Cruise played it well. Maverick was a character that the audience fell in love with, much like children did E.T., because of his patriotic, American fighter attitude. This provided positive advertisement for the famous aviator sunglasses. What kid did not want to grow up and be a fighter pilot like Maverick after this film? Maverick connected with the patriotic, American side that had been hidden inside. This created a wave of people that wanted to be like Maverick and have a stylish pair of Ray Bans Aviator sunglasses. The music in the film also helped fuel the patriotism that Maverick stirred in the film by playing inspiration music that built to a climax mirrored the progression of the scenes. Therefore, product placement can fuel trends in society using product placement and positive theatrical elements such as inspiration acting and …show more content…

Product placement can cause an audience member to view the product in a negative way. For example, if the director in Top Gun decided to make a scene where the fighter jet pilots kill civilians the opinion of the military would be degraded and could be used as a political message against militarism. Some viewers worry that product placement is overtaking film; as is stated in The Economist, “Product placement is rapidly blurring the line between content and advertising” (62). In movies today, it is often impossible to detect if an object is put in the film because of product placement or because the director wanted it unless an individual looks at the expense of producing a film. Disagreement has long been occurring regarding product placement; “The movie exhibitor newsletter Harrison’s Reports railed against the use of on-screen advertising for products such as Kellogg’s Toasted Corn Flakes and Corona typewriters, arguing that “the act of a person who steals your screen is no different than the act of a person who steals your watch” (Newell, Salmon, and Chang 587). Therefore, there is moral debate about whether it is right to subject an audience to unknown advertising and steal time on the screen form the

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