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Comment by herbst | Hacker News Reader

That is simply not true, firstly most cartoons and anime, but also other shows that come with a higher budget seem to be able to avoid product placements.

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> That is simply not true, firstly most cartoons and anime...

https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/4257/have-there-be...

Those are just the most obvious product placements, recognizable to folks who can't read all the little japanese labels on things that appear in the background.

There are also shows which are nothing but vehicles for products.

Some animated shows, like Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Frisky Dingo, did great jobs of using product placement as a comedic part of the show.

Interestingly enough, Fight Club managed to put every product placement right next to sad or violent imagery.

That's because those are the product. Pokemon is the best example of this. I will concede that shows like Game of Thrones are very good at avoiding this, but I'm tempted to propose that shows like that exist to sell HBO subscriptions.

They also have a whole lot of merchandise available.

Didn't Hasbro and Tomy create Transformers explicitly as a marketing/ sales vehicle?

Transformers, G.I. Joe, Strawberry Shortcake, He-Man, My Little Pony... all either toys first or simultaneously created as toys. Usuaslly a good giveaway is when Hasbro or Mattel is mysteriously the creator of the show.

Of course this isn't just a Western phenomenon, the video game/anime/movie/card game/merchandise extravaganza that is and always was Pokemon being probably the best single example.

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