American Idol

American Idol is now well into the 6th season. The show has made ordinary people like Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, and Carrie Underwood famous. The show not only has America's hopefuls competing, but also has advertisers competing for product placement. Companies including AT&T, Coca-Cola, and Ford have paid big bucks to have their products mentioned. In fact, these three big advertisers are even shown at the top of the official American Idol website. AT&T paid between $30-$50 million for their product placement. http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/03/21/product-placement-the-american-idol-juggernaut/ Ryan Seacrest informs the show's average 31.7 million viewers to vote on their cell phones using AT&T. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/arts/television/20idol.html?ei=5090&en=6a21cd6f4f1a4dde&ex=1329627600&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1176178150-XKezcGMq7wXUj4XEqLdZWQ .

Coca-Cola is the proud sponsor of "Coke Presents Behind The Scenes." These are short behind the scene videos that viewers can view on the website. The strangest product placement is Ford's. It is far from subtle. Every week the contestants are featured in a "Ford Music Video." The contestants sing and dance in front of a FORD. It's really bizarre. Ford banner ads are also on the website. Last year's AI winner, Taylor Hicks, was promtly selected as Ford's newest spokesperson after the finale. All of American Idol's product placement is so obvious. The ads, like the show, are completely cheesy, but for that much money apparently it's worth it.