Product Placement On American Idol A Study Of Burke's Pentad And Barthes Semiotics Theory

In this world of mindless sitcoms and gratuitous soaps there is one show that will make you think. When shows like Survivor and Apprentice make you cheer for the strong, rich, good-looking person there is one show that allows you to cheer for the little guy. That show is American Idol. When there are new soft drinks, coming out every day in flavors that you have never heard of, there is one soft drink that has stayed the same since 1886Ð'--well, 1905. That drink is Coca-Cola. In a country where the focus has started to be to buy foreign products including cars, there is one company that is as American as baseball and apple pie. That company is Ford. In a world where it hard to stay connected there is one company that allows you to do just that. That company is AT&T/Cingular Wireless. American Idol, Coca-Cola, Ford, and AT&TÐ'--what do those 4 things have to do with each other? If you watch a lot of TV the answer probably won't surprise you. But if you don'tÐ'--and you shouldÐ'--the answer could come as a shock. American Idol, a singing competition for amateurs, is the most popular show in America. Coca-Cola, Ford, and AT&T all have contracts with American Idol that allows their product to be strategically placed in the show. But before getting into that topic, I think it's important that we look at the history behind these companies.

Coca-Cola was invented by Dr. John Stith Pemberto in May of 1886. He started to sell this new drink at Jacobs Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia. Until 1905 the product's oil, which added the flavor, had traces of cocaine and was also highly caffeinated. It had become a staple of American history and is still extremely popular today. By the time 2003 rolled around, there had been six trillion servings of Coca-Cola enjoyed by people all over the world.

Ford has its roots in my home state of Michigan. It came into the business world in 1903 and was founded by Henry Ford. The first Ford motor car was sold to a Detroit physician about a month after the company was founded. Probably the biggest contribution to the automobile industry from Ford was the assembly line. It was first started in 1913 and that is still how all cars are made today, even though it's changed a lot. The Ford Motor Company is still run by the Ford family today.

AT&T is basically as old as the telephone itself. Only ten years after Alexander Graham Bell invented the talking telegraph in 1875, The American Telephone and Telegraph Corporation became the parent company of American Bell. AT&T has been the biggest company in the telephone business since it was started. AT&T Corp. has recently joined with SBC Communications and Cingular Wireless to become the biggest company of land line phones, wireless phones, and internet in the world.

American Idol got its start in 2002 as an annual singing competition that originated from the hit British show, Pop Idol. They are now on their 6th season and they are getting millions of viewers every week. "Since it's inception, Idol has had Coca-Cola and Ford as sponsors, and after 200 episodes can boast returns in the forms of platinum albums, Grammy Award victors, and even asn Academy Award winner in Jennifer Hudson" (Pinsker).

So, of course, with American Idol being so popular, there were some companies that knew that it would be good for business to not only advertise during American Idol, but to put their advertisement right on the show. In fact "the top product placement show in 2006 was American Idol with 4, 086 placements" (Gough, page unknown). And they are paying big bucks for it too. "In 2004, Coke reportedly paid about $10 million to be integrated into the show" (Edwards 14). "Ð'...it [product placement] is commonplace in films and American television shows" (Derbyshire 17).

When it comes to talking about product placement on American Idol in a paper about communication theories I think it's important to first look at Burke's pentad. So here it is:

Ð'* Act

o Coca-Cola, AT&T, and Ford strategically place there products on American Idol.

Ð'* Agent

o American Idol, Coca-cola, Ford, AT&T, the contestants, the judges, the host, the audience

Ð'* Agency

o Fox Television Network

Ð'* Scene

o Well the whole point in American Idol is to show viewers the talent (or lack thereof) that people have. But as far as the scene of product