Have you ever watched a video on MTV and wondered why your favorite singer or rapper has a blurry spot on his/ her clothes, hat, shoes, etc? Don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong with your television. And no, there’s no wardrobe malfunction or profane picture… it’s simply the logo of a brand that didn’t pay the network an advertising fee for those few minutes of exposure. (I’ve got varying opinions on the practice, but I’ll get to those later.) The other night, as I watched the video for the song “Vans” by indie California-based group, the Pac, I noticed that the chorus was missing something. They never said the actual word “Vans”. Instead, the song says “got my _______ on”, and any lyric that contains a brand name is altered to have the brand removed. The brand names were actually treated like expletives! In most cases it would have slipped by me, and I would have assumed they were blanking out profane language. However, here, they’d chopped off the title lyric to the song! In fact, I’ve read reports that MTV refused to play the video unless the group sent in an edited version sans brands. I guess a brand name mentioned without add dollars is profane to a network whose success depends on advertising, huh? That means artists have to worry about their lyrics being censored not only by the FCC, but also by advertising reps and network execs.
Still, there’s a delicate relationship between publicists, stylists, artists and everyone else involved in product placement. I mean, imagine if during red carpet interviews, the names of everyone’s dress designers are blanked out. That’s basically what MTV’s done with videos. Brand reps and publicists work very hard to get their stuff on the stars, and stylists work hard to get the right brands for their clients. However, where’s the payoff for a brand rep or publicist if the public can’t see that the item worn by said celeb is from their brand?
I wonder, though, what would happen if rappers and other musicians only mentioned brands that paid them. Where would the Motorola 2-way pager have been without Jay-Z? Then again, how would the artists assert their financial superiority without naming and wearing things the common person can’t afford? There are some brands, such as Cristal, that don’t exactly appreciate the hip-hop placements, and the industry has since made it a point to exclude them from lyrics and videos. In addition, Jay-Z pulled the high-priced bubbly from his 40/40 Club sports bars. However, many have realized the financial boost provided by the support of the music industry and have paid big bucks for rappers’ and singers' endorsements. Either way, with all the new media vehicles available to the public, older ones are having to find more and more ways to garner ad dollars… It seems the mainstream industry really has gone “commercial.”