Commodification

In our last unit we talked about commodification. Commodification is the blending of advertisements with programming. When I would watch TV I noticed all of the different brands, but I never thought of what the companies were trying to do. I would notice the character drinking a sprite and maybe I would start wanting a sprite, but I never once thought that was the company’s intentions.They are really sneaky. Now when I watch TV I notice all of the brands and I know what the companies are trying to do. It seems like everything you watch has some type of display of different products with the brand name showing. They are all advertising to the audience and they are pretty successful. I didn’t realize how powerful just displaying a product’s name could be. The other day I was watching an interview from the Olympics on Espn and I noticed commodification. A girl was speaking, but right there on the table she was sitting at, was a bottle of Coca Cola. The bottle was full, and not opened, it was also turned just right so you could read the name. It was placed right in front of the girl for everyone to see, you couldn’t miss it. Commodification doesn’t have to be big flashy signs with a brand on it, just placing one little coke bottle on the table was enough for me to start thinking about how nice a coke might taste. I think commercials and billboards are good ways for companies to advertise, but after learning about commodification I think it’s the most powerful form of advertising. People can ignore commercials and billboards, but when people are watching a show they are paying attention to the different brands used even if it’s subconsciously. If I was a company I would try to get my products shown in as many TV shows and movies as possible.