Can Bose (or others) do this in moves? (1 Viewer)

Andre Barros · Mar 31, 2003

I was watching this movie yesterday, "Life Or Something Like it". In one scene Angelina Jolie's sister gives her father a Bose product of some sort for his birthday. I didn't look close but it might have been a Wave radio or something since it was a pretty small box. She than states "It's made by Bose, it has the best sound quality in the world". As most people know that's simply a lie. I know Bose has some clever marketing ideas and I do give them "credit" for that but stating that their product has the best sound quality in the world should be illegal!!! Can manufacturers do this?

Regards,

André

ColinM · Mar 31, 2003

Was there some point to her making that statement in the plot of the movie? (IE - she's gullible?)

It's called product placement - someone drinking a Pepsi, etc. I'm sure you know what I mean.

I've never heard dialog along with the visual clues, though. That's over the top, to me.

Jack Briggs · Mar 31, 2003

Bose can do anything it wants vis. product placement. No big deal. And the company's right to promote is protected by something called the First Amendment.

ColinM · Mar 31, 2003

The day I see Obi-Wan drinking a Pepsi, is the day I will sell my HT.

Ted Lee · Mar 31, 2003

i thought i heard somewhere that companies can say "better", but not "best". not sure though...

[edit] maybe you can ask a mod to retitle this post and/or move it to after-hours. you'll probably get more replies to your specific question.

John Garcia · Mar 31, 2003

Actually, my dad has a wave radio, and while I am completely at a loss as to why people buy the cube systems, the wave radio has very decent sound for it's size (not price). I achieved superior performance with just $300 in my bedroom system however...

Andre Barros · Apr 1, 2003

I thought that in order to state that your product is the best you had to show studies that demonstrated that a certain percentage of the people interviwed or something considered it to be better. Several years ago there was a comercial on TV that asked "Do you think that diet Sprite is better that diet 7up (or vice versa), than you are right!" but at the end of the commercial the small print read "Studies show that X number of people prefer....." Anyway, it was the first time I ever saw an electronics manufacturer advertising in that particular way in movies. Just shows how powerful their marketing is.

Regards,

André

Frank Zimkas · Apr 1, 2003

The day I see Obi-Wan drinking a Pepsi, is the day I will sell my HT.

Same here! Everybody knows that he prefers the taste of New Coke!!

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Michael Reuben · Apr 1, 2003

I know Bose has some clever marketing ideas and I do give them "credit" for that but stating that their product has the best sound quality in the world should be illegal!!! Can manufacturers do this?

The manufacturer didn't make the statement. A fictional character in a movie did. Statements made by characters in movies don't have to be true; if they did, a lot of plots would have to be discarded.

M.

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Lew Crippen · Apr 1, 2003

She than states "It's made by Bose, it has the best sound quality in the world". As most people know that's simply a lie.

This is the opinion of a character in a movie, not a statement of fact. No different than having a character say that Chevy makes the best cars.

This is not presented in any way other than as what someone believes.

I’m curious as to what led you to think otherwise?

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Lew Crippen · Apr 1, 2003

Oops, it looks as though Michael posted while I was writing.

Oh well, the point is the same.

Brian Perry · Apr 1, 2003

A couple of interesting points have been brought up already.

Jack, I understand that Bose can promote via free speech, but you must acknowledge they are bound by certain limitations of what they can say, right?

Michael R.,

If a fictional character can say anything (and I'm not disputing this), could this lead to more of this type of advertising? Product placement is one thing--having a character recite a carefully planned statement boasting of unsubstantiated (or false) claims is another. For example, in Rain Man, Dustin Hoffman's character states that Quantas is the only airline never to have had a crash, which I believe is true. It was a nice little promo for Quantas, regardless of whether they paid for it or not. But let's say they had had a few crashes. Would it be right to lie about it in a movie?

Michael Reuben · Apr 1, 2003

If "right" means "legal", then I think there would have to be a change in the law for such a statement to become actionable. I suppose one could argue that, if Qantas (or whoever) paid the filmmakers for the reference, it was tantamount to an advertisement and, therefore, should be subject to the same standards and practices. But there are a lot of slippery slopes in that landscape, and I'd rather have the defense side of the argument. ("So you're saying that people in the audience for Rain Man are likely to choose their airline based on the statements of an autistic fictional character who's repeatedly shown to be out of touch with everyday reality???")

And what happens if the statement is true when the film is made, but then circumstances change (in this example, Qantas has a crash)? Does the film have to be edited? Imagine the HTF outcry: "We want the ORIGINAL Rain Man where Qantas didn't crash and Greedo shot first!!!"

M.

Jack Fanning · Apr 1, 2003

As most people know that's simply a lie.

I think this is the problem....most people DO NOT realize that is simply a lie.

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Brian Perry · Apr 1, 2003

So you're saying that people in the audience for Rain Man are likely to choose their airline based on the statements of an autistic fictional character who's repeatedly shown to be out of touch with everyday reality?

I knew it was a problematic example, but it was the quickest one I could think of. (And good catch on the spelling of Qantas!)

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John Watson · Apr 1, 2003

the wisdom of the ages, as expressed by WC Fields - Never give a sucker an even break

:frowning:

Michael Reuben · Apr 1, 2003

I knew it was a problematic example

I thought it was a pretty good example, because it involves a factual claim that might be considered important (as opposed to the Bose example).

M.

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Joseph DeMartino · Apr 1, 2003

Odds are the Qantas thing in Rain Man was not any kind of "product placement", but simply an obscure fact that somebody came across and thought would be a good "odd" thing for Raymond to know and rattle off. On the anti-product side in the same film, we have Raymond's famous pronouncement, "K-Mart sucks".

As for Angelina Jolie - the answer has been given. Fictional character giving opinion, not actionable. Advertising rules can hardly be applied to things that aren't advertisements per se. (Besides, depending on the filmmaker's attitude towards Bose and Jolie's character, the statement may have been satirical)

Regards,

Joe

Lew Crippen · Apr 1, 2003

I think this is the problem....most people DO NOT realize that is simply a lie.

All the more reason that legal action based on the truth of the statement would likely fail.

After all, if a character could reasonably believe something to be true (even if it were false), then why should that character not say what they believe to be true?

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Mike Lenthol · Apr 1, 2003

As most people know that's simply a lie.

WHAT?

Ohh I get it, it's April 1st

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