Fake Coffee with the News

Product placement has reached the TV news. On the desk in front of the anchors of Las Vegas's Fox 5 TV news sit two cups of McDonald's iced coffee. McDonald's is paying for the coffee to be there. But the best part: it's not real coffee. It's just a plastic simulation of iced coffee. From the Las Vegas Sun:

The anchors aren’t even supposed to acknowledge them, McDonald’s reps explain. That’s part of their genius, my little lambs! They get into your mind without you knowing it. So they just sit there, two logo-emblazoned plastic cups, percolating into the psyche. Made-to-scale models that weigh something like seven pounds each — refreshing, and bottom-line boosting!

The Las Vegas news isn't alone in doing this. Lots of news shows are joining in. I think I've seen similar cups on the San Diego news. I'd like to see one of the anchors forced to drink the cup down. (Thanks, Bob!)

Advertising Food

Posted on Tue Jul 22, 2008


Comments

My current fantasy is that I'm booked as a guest on this "news" show. In the middle of my segment, I casually reach over to the fake coffee as if thinking that it was placed there for me. I raise it to my lips and start to suck on the straw. I suspect the looks on the faces of the hosts would be priceless.
Posted by Cranky Media Guy  on  Wed Jul 23, 2008  at  01:30 AM
I guess they have to use fake stuff cos the real stuff looks so unappetising?
Posted by outeast  on  Wed Jul 23, 2008  at  03:23 AM
yes, I'd like a plastic coffee, an egg McHockey Puck, and a small toy to put on my desk to irritate co-workers. To go.
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Wed Jul 23, 2008  at  08:05 AM
Boooo!

Nothing is sacred anymore.
Posted by MadCarlotta  on  Wed Jul 23, 2008  at  10:32 AM
Nothing says "professional journalism" like "props indicating your news team buys cheap iced coffee"...

@outeast -- They have to use fake because otherwise the cold iced coffee would sweat (condensation) and leave a big wet puddle. By the end of the show all the ice cubes would be gone and it would look like a latte. (Not to mention, the news team might actually drink it, if it were real, and then you'd have a half-empty cheap iced coffee -- ultra-professional journalism!)
Posted by Cleanser  on  Wed Jul 23, 2008  at  12:17 PM
I bet the logo shows up better with a full cup, too. To be fair, I have had their iced coffee & it is surprisingly okay. My favorite coffee over all is from Dunkin Donuts...including their iced coffee, and hot chocolate.

My mom makes the best iced coffee ever, but in a pinch, without my mom or a DD around, I will do a McDonald's iced coffee. It's pretty cheap, too. Not like a $5 cup of Charbucks.
Posted by Maegan  on  Thu Jul 24, 2008  at  12:34 PM
It seems like one of those mean practical jokes, like the candies with soap centers. You put people under really hot lights, and then right in front of them you put a realistic-looking but undrinkable frosty cold beverage. They could hardly bring their own drinks along, either, or the viewers would wonder why the TV people were drinking cans of Fresca instead of those nice iced coffees beside their hands.

But WHY would plastic scale models of plastic cups of coffee weigh seven pounds each???
Did they put lead weights in the bottoms to prevent the newscasters acidentally turning them over?
Posted by Big Gary  on  Sat Jul 26, 2008  at  12:11 PM
As that said "Product placement has reached the TV news." Its only about advertisement. every pixel of screen where a viewer sight may reach is salable from advertiser's point of view. Now it has to make looking professional is what marketing team is working for.
Posted by Cell Phones - Umair  on  Sun Aug 10, 2008  at  04:52 PM
man....you dont think when your watching it do you...
Posted by pete  on  Fri Aug 29, 2008  at  02:19 PM
My mom makes the best iced coffee ever, but in a pinch, without my mom or a DD around, I will do a McDonald's iced coffee. It's pretty cheap, too. Not like a $5 cup of Charbucks.
Posted by Peter  on  Sat Dec 27, 2008  at  10:18 AM
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