Product Placement of Always Sunny (Blog #6)

I decided to watch “The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention” of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia for product placement in a sitcom. Always sunny is by far one of my favorite sitcoms to ever air on television, and I’ve noticed product placement when watching it in the past. I decided to use this episode as an example because it holds some prominent product placement, but it’s also my favorite episode.

Placement starts right at the beginning of the episode. It shows the gang going somewhere inside one of the character’s cars, and Frank, one of the main characters, is drinking boxed wine out of a diet Coke can. As the episode continues, they continue to show more and more characters adapt and utilize his idea, making the product placement even more profound. The characters continually hint at the idea throughout the episode as well. The gang refers to them as soda cans; however, they never use any other type of can, regardless of how many of them are doing it. I find this interesting because it’s very obvious they are not consuming the product itself, they are only using it as an illusion to drink in public without being suspicious.

In addition, I found one other significant placement later on in the episode. As the crew is hanging out in the bar, there’s a distinct importance on Coors Light beer products. They have plastic containers for coasters and straws adorning the logo. Moreover, they have multiple neon signs on the walls showing off the brand, as well as keg tap handles boasting the “silver bullet.” But the most interesting part about this is that there are zero other brands of beer shown in the bar. All of the other signs and logos simply say “beer” or “lager” and do not mention any specific brand. To anyone that’s been in a modern bar, they would notice something as odd as this immediately and probably begin to worry since Coors light is an awful beer. Bars don’t carry just one brand of beer, and they want everyone to know they probably have the brand you’re looking to enjoy when you step in. There are signs and advertisements for almost any type of beer you could hope for in a pub today, especially an Irish pub like the one in the show. It makes me wonder what the significance of Coors is for the show, whether they wanted that branding, or if it was the cheapest. Regardless, it’s undoubtedly there for everyone to see.

        

There were some other brands that appeared throughout the episode, but none of them seem significant enough to be considered placement. For example, one of the characters drives an older Range Rover, but you only see it momentarily. In addition, there are plenty of different brands of liquor behind the bar, such as Jameson, Beefeater, and Baileys, but it’s a brief visible shot of them, and they go without mentioning by any of the characters.

It does not seem to me as if It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia emphasizes brand names too drastically, but certain scenarios cannot be denied. However, I don’t know much about branding in television, so it may be something as simple as what brand is cheapest, or if that brand is necessary for the comedy or plot development. In comparison to other popular sitcoms, I would say Always Sunny does a good job with subtle brand approach.