Brand Placements in Song Lyrics: Lamborghinis, Louis Vuitton, and Dom Perignon.
ID: 414017 • Letter: B
Question
Brand Placements in Song Lyrics: Lamborghinis, Louis Vuitton, and Dom Perignon. Sexual signaling in song lyrics...bling-bling! Published on September 1, 2010 by Gad Saad, Ph.D. in Homo Consumericus Product placements are typically associated with the conspicuous display of a brand in a movie (e.g., BMW car chase in a James Bond movie) or on a television show (e.g., Jerry Seinfeld drinking a can of Coke on his famous sitcom). A more recent and growing form of product placements is the use of brand mentions in song lyrics (the Kluger Agency specializes in this form of promotion). I have argued elsewhere (Saad, 2007; Saad, 2011a; Saad, 2011b) that songs can at times serve as a form of lekking behavior. Specifically, a lek is a physical space where typically males of the species in question congregate to engage in various forms of sexual signaling. The females stand at the lek's periphery with the goal of choosing the optimal male. How are song lyrics a form of lekking behavior? Well roughly 90% of songs deal with mating. More specifically, men and women sing about attributes that they are willing to offer and/or attributes that they desire in the mating arena. Not surprisingly from an evolutionary perspective, men sing about their social status and/or their financial resources, given that women possess a universal preference for high-status men (or men who have the capacity to ascend the social hierarchy, e.g,, a poor man who is otherwise ambitious and intelligent). On a related note, see one of my earlier posts here regarding the evolutionary roots of a ubiquitous behavior that male rappers display in music videosExplanation / Answer
This article is about the placement of brand name in the song lyrics as a part of the advertisements. Basically advertising a product traditionally through mainstream commercial leave back an annoying impression on the suctomers, so one of the unconventional ways to advertise a brand could be through products, where the advertisement is passive yet felt, is song lyrics.
For a brand to effectively advertise their products, tapping the psychology of their customer is most important, known as psychography. Here the brands are cashing on the lekking behaviour of the song. As mentioned in the article above, lek refers to the way a male attracts a suitable female. In the songs, this is generally referred to by showcasing the wealth, the singer has.
The brands strike a deal with the singers to place their brand name in their lyrics in exchange of a commission. The movies we watch, the songs we listen to and watch all have different type of product placements. From the cars, to the handbags. From jewellery to gadgets. From restaurants and takeouts, everything is strategically shown and sung in a way that doesn't come off as a straight forward advertisement.
You can present this in class as a form of advertisements.