Product Placement Through Storytelling: Ads in Thai Shows

The product is in Ley's hand. She is speaking to her brother.

I watched quite a number of Thai dramas this winter and one thing I remarked was the unapologetic product placement. At first, I barely noticed. Now, it is really obvious.

So, for instance, two teens are talking and...one of them just happens to apply acne medicine to the other and behold, here's a shot of the bottle.

I have mixed feelings about these scenes. On the one hand, they seem kind of gauche. On the other, I appreciate not having to watch an actual commercial. And I am rather impressed by the artistic demand--can writers smoothly work in the "ads" without breaking character development or cadence?

The answer is--it depends on the writer and the product. (My entirely uninformed impression is that the scriptwriters contribute--but so do the company's ad execs. Or, at least, the latter likely sign off on the related scenes. There is variation in the type of scenes and dialog different brands create. As mentioned below, Canon is quite clever, being more than willing to utilize the tongue-in-the-cheek.)

Frankly, the acne, makeup, and hair gel ads don't work that well. Occasionally, a writer can maneuver the product placement into regular conversation--as in Until We Meet Again where the effervescent Del persuades her male friends to try makeup. The conversation is cute and reflects teen bonding moments. 

Otherwise, the sudden intrusion into the script of information on various hygiene products comes across as seriously belabored. 

Food products, especially drinks, are far more natural. Characters are often eating in episodes, especially in the college-based series. It is entirely natural to get a long shot of a snack bag or drink bottle. 

In the case of the Lay ad (above), the character finishes the bag, then goes to 7-Eleven to stock up. A dramatic encounter ensues. 

Tinn repeats Gun's line in a later scene/ad. Since

it is repeated in a deadpan way, the line is quite

funny. Canon ad execs have a sense of humor!

The cleverest ads so far have been the Canon commercials in My School President. Tinn is helping Gun study--a gallant young man, he keeps imagining scenarios where Tinn and Gun bond or Tinn flies to Gun's rescue.

Except Gun, despite being academically challenged, is resourceful and practical and fully capable of refilling the ink cartridges on the Canon printer himself. He doesn't even need Tinn's help to print (see image).

"Even my mom could do it," he tells Tinn, who sighs at once again being thwarted in his role of hero. (Tinn's actual help, of course, far outweighs the cute imaginings he makes up in his head.)

In any case, the use of the printer--and the accompanying joke--is so seamless, I didn't realize until the second watching that it was a commercial. 

So far, the product placement that I've enjoyed the most has been the cat food ad in Moonlight Chicken--and not just for the view of a striking cat. The related dialog simply struck me as entirely natural.

What else would a guest do except talk about the cat?

And who doesn't want a shot of the cat? Product and all? 

I think Creative Writing classes should make this "product placement" an assignment: can your characters discuss a product in a way that sells the product but appears natural? If so--that's good writing.