Yesterday's Wall Street Journal had an article on a new trend of product placement in comic books, and they've released it from behind their subscription curtain. It's a very serious look at comics as a medium and as an underestimated vehicle for advertising to that 20-something male who's so hard to reach (even if it does fall back on the cliched "Look--Up in the Sky" headline).
Some of the intriguing facts it sets out: Pontiac and Dodge have made product placement deals with DC and Marvel, respectively, and will accompany them with additional print ads.
Gordon Hodge of Thomas Weisel Partners says the sales slump of the '90s ended four years ago when the first Spider-Man movie came out (although I imagine certain retailers might beg to differ). Since no new readers came along during that time, the average comics reader is now a 20- or 30-something male and ripe for advertisers. Pontiac advertising manager Dino Bernacchi said, "There is a large misunderstanding of who is reading these titles and what they are paying attention to." DC vice president of advertising and custom publishing, David McKillips, told the WSJ, "You're going to see this year a lot more health and beauty care, shaving cream, razors, alongside the automotive."
Marvel (and presumably DC, too) sees their competition as "lad" magazines such as Maxim and FHM.
The article points out that product placement has shown up in comic books before, singling out DC's Hot Wheels and Captain Action books of the late '60s and early '70s, but assures us, "The new auto-maker ads will be less overt." Let's hope so.
DC also has auto ads on their back covers now.
My question is how many readers are really expected to buy a car based on the fact that a new (likely forgettable) character is drivin' one? The article notes that readers are assumed to be adults, and adulthood tends to imply a level of maturity.
I can see a Coke sign in the background, but placing cars in the page, and expecting that to sell?
As an aside: I recall old Spiderman comics mentioning specific camera types (in context with Parker as a photographer). I wonder if that was early placement.....