science

Product displacement

Product displacement is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Product displacement rather than just read about it. In short: Product displacement is the removing of trademarked products from primarily visual media in order to avoid the payment of licensing fees, if the trademark owner objects, or if the broadcaster would prefer not to publicise a product for free, if the owners have not paid for it to be included in a programme. Product displacement can also refer to brands/companies deliberately modifying their name or logo in an attempt…

Key takeaways

Product displacement belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Product displacement to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Product displacement from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Product displacement is the removing of trademarked products from primarily visual media in order to avoid the payment of licensing fees, if the trademark owner objects, or if the broadcaster would prefer not to publicise a product for free, if the owners have not paid for it to be included in a programme. Product displacement can also refer to brands/companies deliberately modifying their name or logo in an attempt to make people see the logo and realize that the logo/name is not correct. This extra thinking time forces people to register the real brand. This method can be more effective than product placement.

Method Product displacement is usually achieved via digital pixelation, though prior to the widespread availability of computer post-production, stagehands would cover up brands on bottles, etc., using tape, or by using fake labels. This was called "greeking" and the term is now used for the digital process as well.

Types There are two types of product displacements within the industry, which are identified as fictionalized and unbranded product displacements.

Fictionalized product displacement Fictionalized product displacement is often used by directors or production staff to use a completely fictional brand and/or product which closely resembles and mimics a non-fictional product or brand. This is often done so the viewers can make close correlation with an already existing non-fictional brand that they may use on a daily basis without having to create another fictional dimension for a separate product altogether. Some of the most popular TV series over the past decade have used this technique to allow their viewers to make that clear distinction, especially shows such as Scrubs, where the protagonists are often seen mingling at a coffee shop known as "Coffee Bucks" which closely resembles the logo, colour and theme of a Starbucks. Similarly other TV shows such as My Name Is Earl also used similar technique with the fictional candy bar by the name of TitTat Candy, which closely resembles the Kit Kat chocolate bar, offered by The Hershey Company.

Unbranded product displacement Unbranded product displacement is used when a marketer makes a known effort to hide or pixelate the logo of non-fictional company or product within a specific advertisement, TV show, or movie. Within unbranded product displacement there are two different ways that can be used to hide or pixelate a non-fictional product or brand. Either through "digital alternation" where the brand is pixelated, erased, and or hidden digitally, or through physical removal of a brand, such as removing the logo of a car from its front grill.

Other notable examples

A TV or film studio does not need permission from a company to display or mention its products or service in media form. Warner Bros. Television's The Big Bang Theory used The Cheesecake Factory as a setting without any formal arrangement with the chain. According to Danny Boyle, director of the Oscar-winning 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire, the producers had to resort to "product displacement" when companies such as Mercedes refused to allow their products to be used in non-flattering settings, in this case, a slum. This forced the filmmakers to digitally remove logos in post-production, costing "tens of thousands of pounds". The practice of product displacement is also frequently seen on reality television, which do not have clearance to display the logos or products of non-sponsor companies. This accounts for the frequent appearance of pixel mosaics and blurring of logo T-shirts, soda cans or bottles, and other instances on shows such as America's Next Top Model, Survivor, Dr. Phil and The Real World. The 2011 film Dark Horse was denied permission to film inside a Toys "R" Us, so director Todd Solondz fogged out the logo. The 1978 film Grease was originally shot with several scenes containing Coca-Cola–branded paraphernalia. Producer Allan Carr had signed a product placement deal with Coke's rival, Pepsi; after filming had wrapped, producer Allan Carr ordered director Randal Kleiser to remove the Coke trademarks. Coca-Cola later sponsored the 2016 TV remake.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Product displacement

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Product displacement claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Product displacement before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Product displacement ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Product displacement

In research: Product displacement appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Product displacement in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Product displacement is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Film and video terminology, Marketing techniques, Television terminology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Product displacement outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Product displacement in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Product displacement means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Product displacement out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Product displacement in simple terms?

Why does Product displacement matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Product displacement?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Product displacement.