Filed under: iTS, Cult of Mac, iTunes, Apple
Heroes and Apple
Apple is known for savvy product placement deals, particularly on TV. Its prominence in Aaron's Sorkin's "Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip" is both well planned and widely known (in 2003, Sorkin helped promote PowerBooks in an Apple product introduction video). Macs, particularly laptops, have also appeared extensively in shows like "Veronica Mars". So why was I so surprised to see Apple credited on a recent episode of NBC's "Heroes"? Because as far as I know, I have never seen an Apple product on that show. Yes, the show is available at the iTunes store, where it sells well, but have any of you readers seen actual Apple hardware placements in the show itself? Let us know in the comments.
Get a WordPress.com Blog
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Brian said 1:06PM on 11-15-2006
What about Ando's iPod that he watches Niki flicks on?
Reply
Carl Trimble said 1:14PM on 11-15-2006
What about the powerbook that Niki uses? At least I thought she had a powerbook?
Reply
Cameron Hunt said 1:15PM on 11-15-2006
It's probably because of Final Cut Pro. I assume a lot of the video industry uses Final Cut and Apple products, it's not a stretch of the imagination that they use it for Heroes too.
Reply
Big Ray said 1:29PM on 11-15-2006
+1 to the first commenter. I remember Ando using an iPod to watch the Nikki flicks as well.
Reply
Henry Casey said 1:39PM on 11-15-2006
Yeah, I'm with Brian, the iPod that Ando's been slyly importing his LasVegasNiki.com clips to always stuck out to me.
Reply
Jasontho said 1:37PM on 11-15-2006
Anyone see House last night. The guy he woke up from a 10 year coma see's an iPod and asks, "Whats this? It says ip-od on it."
Reply
CV said 6:34PM on 11-15-2006
I've just seen the iPod--after seeing that credit, I carefully checked the computers in scenes, but they're Windows machines so far as I can see.
The most amazing Mac placement right now is the Nissan commercial with the woman seated at the iMac and then there's a reverse shot with the iMac logo clearly visible.
Reply
Goobimama said 1:42PM on 11-15-2006
...and it was a fifth gen ipod at that (normally one would find the 4G or 3G iPod).
And Niki doesn't use a powerbook, there's no apple logo.
Reply
Henry Casey said 1:41PM on 11-15-2006
Jasontho, YEAH, I laughed hard when Laroquette said that. Hell I used the instant replay on the DVR to explain it to my friend.
Reply
Joey S. said 1:42PM on 11-15-2006
Saw that, Jasontho. I've seen quite a few ipods in House.
Reply
Galley said 2:16PM on 11-15-2006
Everyone on "Standoff" uses Macs, and so does the family on "The War At Home".
Reply
Keith said 1:58PM on 11-15-2006
A whole bunch of geeks noticed GAIM during the one time the screen on Niki's notebook was clearly visible. Whatever brand the hardware was, it was running Linux. (Set up by Micah, no doubt.)
Reply
David B. said 2:07PM on 11-15-2006
I think the item of greater interest is that the credit is to "Apple" not "Apple Computer." As far as I can determine their name is still "Apple Computer, Inc." Does this highlight a shift in the way they brand themselves?
Reply
Kevin said 2:13PM on 11-15-2006
There may not be a whole lot of product placement in the show, but Apple may have donated they desktops/servers that they do their editting/rendering on in exchange for credit placement.
Reply
Cameron Hunt said 2:34PM on 11-15-2006
I think a lot of people are missing the point.
I don't think Apple wanted to be credited, or bribed them to be credited or any such nonsense.
Artists love their tools, and they credit them. Apple makes good tools, so the artists give credit where credit is due. And although Apple's official name is "Apple Computer, Inc" they are known informally as Apple, and would be credited as "Apple" in credits because that's the name most people known them by.
I don't get the logic that if Apple has a product placed in the show, they would be credited. Apple doesn't need product placement because most of Hollywood uses Macs. Almost all media is created by Macs and Mac users. We have the majority in the media, so Apple does not need product placement. Doulbly so for iPods. iPods are so popular that it would be hard NOT to have them show up in a film nowadays.
Reply
Jon said 2:45PM on 11-15-2006
Cameron Hunt has it. Watch any movie and it will say things like "Edited on Avid" and "Shot with Panavision" at the end. They don't get any money for doing it, it's more of a respect thing.
Reply
gregday said 4:25PM on 11-15-2006
Keith, actually it was Kopete, not Gaim, running on the Linux computer :)
Reply
Bob Newill said 3:11PM on 11-15-2006
Whatever it is, it's pretty cool. But it's most definitely NOT for donation of hardware/software for the editing process. Working in this field, NOTHING is ever donated from ANYONE. (Well, almost never, but you know what I mean.) It sucks, but it's true. :-) As for the 'respect' thing in the credits, that is there for some sort of promotional consideration. In the production of any feature, every service and product gets bid out, and the winners may require these items to be placed in the credits. Just as the above screen shot shows, those items were placed for some promotional value, and there could be some understanding that for a fixed number of episodes a company's name will appear in the credits. Also, a scene with the item in it may have been cut at the last minute, but the prop was still provided none the less.
Reply
lewsmind said 3:10PM on 11-15-2006
But the credit line says "Promotional Consideration Furnished by". That means that their products were used or promoted somehow in the show.
Reply
The Jeremy said 3:11PM on 11-15-2006
Apple receives the same credit for *Las Vegas*. Point of fact, its a product placement purchase. They pay for us to see characters use Apple products, plain and simple.
Reply