About once a week I get an e-mail from Madison + Vine, AdAge’s vehicle for keeping us abreast of all the exciting developments in advertainment, you know, product placements, sponsorships and all that other jazz that’s supposed to render traditional advertising deader than a doornail sometime this week, this year or this millenium depending on who you listen to. I only get the top line because access to the full articles would cost me $299, which to me would be like paying the price of a Ruth’s Chris sirloin for a McDonald’s 1/4-pounder. Plus, there’s usually enough in the top line to send my blood pressure into digits normally reserved for tachometers.
For example, this week I learned that Wal-Mart has struck a deal that will make it the exclusive source for Garth Brooks music, old and new. How this qualifies as “entertainment” I’m not sure. Seems more like unlawful imprisonment to me, but whatever. I’m not a big Garth Brooks fan, so the fact that I refuse to set foot in Wal-Mart because I don’t like its business practices shouldn’t cause me any problems.
But then I got to thinking: what if some product I truly love was to strike a similar bargain. What if–heaven forbid–The Economist decided the only way to renew a subscription was to go into a Wal-Mart? Then what would I do?
Well, I guess I’d just have to drag my ass into Wal-Mart. However, my opinion of The Economist would never be quite the same again. Whereas my opinion of Wal-Mart wouldn’t change an iota. Branded entertainment certainly has a place in the world. Corralled entertainment, I don’t think so.
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