A complete guide to the product placement in J.Lo and Pitbull’s ‘Live It Up’ video

Even though we all know the music industry is fighting for survival, people can still be a bit sniffy about artists who use product placement to fund their videos.

This rush to judge seems particularly unfair when it comes to struggling independent artists like Pitbull and J.Lo who, operating outside the mainstream, will rarely enjoy the luxury of royalties from worldwide music sales and airplay.

So please don’t see this guide to the product placement in Pitbull and J.Lo’s ‘Live It Up’ video as any sort of criticism. See it instead as a celebration. A celebration of two artists who are just doing what they have to do to get their important message out there.

What you’ll see below is each instance of product placement, along with any details we consider pertinent, plus an estimate of how much each deal will have brought in for J.Lo and Pitbull.

Here goes!

Brand: Swarovski
Notes: Sometimes product placement can look a bit crowbarred-in, but according to their website, “through the mastery of poetry and precision Swarovski Crystal continues to be the market leader who meets people’s desire for adornment and delight”. And who can argue with Pitbull’s reputation for poetry and precision?
Estimated revenue: $8.99

Brand: Nokia
Notes: This is sadly not up there with The Greatest Nokia Pop Video Product Placement Image Of All Time. Disappointing.
Estimated revenue: $27.50 and a Nokia stress toy

Brand: Ice
Notes: We like the way the time on this watch is the same on the phone. Good attention to detail.
Estimated revenue: $2.99

Brand: Argos
Notes: Argos have been struggling to reinvent themselves for a young demographic and this subtle promotion for their new range of self-assembly clothes rails is both relevant and aspirational.
Estimated revenue: $7

Brand: France
Notes: Pitbull certainly likes to travel – that’s why they call him ‘Mr Worldwide’. And when we say ‘they call him’ we mean ‘he calls himself’, but the point still stands.
Estimated revenue: $15

Brand: Jessops
Notes: As UK readers will know, the high street photographic ‘emporium’ has had a tough time of things recently, but the recent arrival of Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Peter Jones could be just what the doctor (OR PHOTOGRAPHER!) ordered. Peter’s fascination with celebrity was laid bare when he invested in Hamfatter a few years ago, and we applaud the forward-thinking nature of his choice to go with J.Lo and Pitbull to help rescue Jessops.
Estimated revenue: $75 and 20% of the business

Brand: Bird’s
Notes: Bird’s is another company struggling to make sense of its legacy in the digital age, and they’re keen to shake off custard’s old-fashioned image. Here we see Bird’s attempting to reposition custard as a high-end cosmetics product.
Estimated revenue: $3 Continue reading ‘A complete guide to the product placement in J.Lo and Pitbull’s ‘Live It Up’ video’ »

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If you’d like a Eurovision compact disc for zero pence you are in the right place

Anyway you might have missed it because there wasn’t much coverage on Twitter but Eurovision happened over the weekend. ‘We’ did appallingly, obviously, but the best song of the night was clearly this one.

Well done, ‘The United Kingdom’, for not giving it any points.

As ever there’s an album out featuring 39 tunes ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, and we have 5-1 copies of the CD to give away. (We say ’5-1′ because it was meant to be five but we’re keeping on of them, apols.)

To be in with a chance of winning one of these compact disc releases, just use the form below to tell us what the United Kingdom should do for next year’s entry.

The competition closes at the end of today (ie when we piss off home at about 5pmish). Cheers!

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