30 Rock's greatest achievement?

Getting me to actually watch a commercial for their "trifection oven." I
noticed it on the TiVo and thought it might be a joke ad. Was it? I can't
imagine why anyone would want to cook a turkey in 22 minutes. :-)

Seriously, is this a new low in product placement or is it an improvement?

NOSPAMrobertocastillo...

Definitely an improvement. It did everything an ad is supposed
to do entertain and inform. And the shamelessness of it fit Alec
Baldwin's character perfectly.

karl...

I was wondering that myself. Though I loathe PP, this did entertain
immensely.

Baldwin's monologue on the subject was hilarious, at least when I thought it
was a fake product. But are they crossing a line here? I thought it would
be funny if he pressured Tina Fey to write a sketch featuring the oven and
she protested. Now that's irony! Or is it hypocrisy...?

karl...

How do you parody pp without doing a pp? Especially if the corporation is

Keith Baird...

For starters, you don't follow up a parody product placement within the
show with an actual commercial for the product parodied. It completely
deflates whatever satiric effect may have been generated and makes the
show look like a complete sell-out.

karl...

Funny. I ff'ed so I never saw the real ad.

Victor Velazquez...

I did too but caught a glimpse of it and went back to see what was going on,
hence the "achievement." I was not impressed by the ad (or the product, I
don't want to rejigger all the cooking times in all my recipes) but I do
think they should do a show about Baldwin pressuring Fey to put the
trifection oven in a skit.

Jerri.LaPoint...

I thought it was brilliant. A guy singing the praises of what I thought
was a fictional product, followed by an actual commercial for that real
product was sheer genius. I was laughing from the time I realized what
was going on. This show has such promise, and it was actually *funny*
which is a rare commodity in comedy anymore.
Jerri

Tina Fey, if you're reading, I decided not to give 30 Rock a second
viewing next week at *precisely* the moment the real General Electric
Trivection oven commercial appeared. And for that matter, it ruined the
remainder of the episode. You should complain with three kinds of heat
to the network.

savvy enough to realize they can let themselves be insulted and made to look
silly as long as the product/corporation gets the mention?

Victor Velazquez...

When you put it that way, I suppose I am in favor of anything that gets
corporations to lighten up. As their image changes, so too should corporate
culture change (less Enronrs, more Ben & Jerrys?).

Wayne's World had a parody of pp that could be over the line too but that
worked as well.

Victor Velazquez...

I had totally forgotten about that hilarious mockery/exploitation of product
placement. I wonder if there's comedy-philosophy connection here between
Meyers and Fey via Michaels? I guess we do see a lot of corporate mockery
on SNL although not nearly as pointed.

muzicmakr...

Wow, I didn't even know it was a real product. Does it count as
product placement for me then? (I fastforwarded "brp-brp" through the
actual ad.)

bklyntv...

Not a low, at least it was integrated and funny within the context
(exec builds good oven, moves on to show running).

The low point of product placement for me was Tony Soprano singing the
praises of some SUV he gave his son, speiling off the cars features
like a low-rent car salesmen...

Jorabi...

That wasn't product placement. It was a parody of PP and Sopranos
did that more than once.

bklyntv...

LOL. Did Tony Snow tell you that?

It's product placement, they've even been referenced in industry
articles about the practice. HBO is padding their bottom line. I find
Sopranos especially egregious as I resent paying a big premium for
their programming and STILL having to watch commercials.

Runner up to Christian Troy on Nip/Tuck telling someone to listen to
his "XM satellite radio" (which was at least forgivable as XM sponsered
the commercial-free premiere).