MTV's "The Real World" is a reality television show that tells the "real" story of seven strangers picked to live in a house together. The show is a natural vehicle for product placement. This season, the housemates live in Denver, Colorado. There are a variety of products that are shown that match with the typical Denver lifestyle. One of the largest product placements in at the kids' job. They work for Outward Bound. http://www.outwardbound.org/index.php This is a non-profit company that brings kids into the wilderness for personal growth and leadership skills. I had personally heard of it because many of my friends went on these adventures. Footage shows the beauty of Colorado and the many activities that people can do. The show itself could be mistaken for a long advertisement for visiting Colorado! Before their first training session, the kids went to Dick's Sporting Goods to find everything they needed. (They made sure to mention the store's name). http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/home/index.jsp . Again, Dick's went along with Colorado's national and outdoorsy feel. Another large product placement is Wild Oats. http://www.wildoats.com/u/home/ . This is a natural grocery store around the US. The grocery store features many trail mixes and healthy snacks that are great for the outdoors. Finally, the fourth major placement is from Jeep. http://www.jeep.com/ The new Patriot was launched this year and having twenty-somethings in the outdoors was a perfect placement. Viewers could think, "Wow, that vehicle seems to work perfectly for long drives and holds a lot! Plus the Real Worlders look so cool driving it!" The product placement is better than any other commercial. It is also reinforced to the viewers that the car is, in fact, a Jeep Patriot.
Reality television is a great way to integrate product placement. If the show is supposed to be reality than people will think that these people actually use the product. "Survivor producer Mark Burnett described his show as being 'as much a marketing vehicle as it is a television show.'"http://www.brandhype.org/archives/2005/03/product_placeme.html . As Reality TV gains in popularity, audiences are catching on that it may not be so realistic afterall. Will this change views on product placement? Maybe or maybe not.