5 Drama Product Placements That Went Hilariously Overboard

We are all too familiar with product placements in dramas.

Remember Jun Ji Hyun‘s signature red lipstick in “My Love From the Star“? Or Kim Woo Bin, Lee Min Ho, and Park Shin Hye‘s favorite convenience store in “Heirs“? Or at least the latest Samsung device in just about any drama? From cars to breakfast, advertising has long progressed beyond the couple-minute break every episode.

Taiwanese dramas are no different from their Korean counterparts in terms of their product placements. A simple Google search would serve up dozens of academic articles on the marketing impact of product placements. With the deregulation of product placement appearances on Taiwanese TV some ten years ago, PPL is now a big part of TV production. Some, however, have made it so much more apparent than others. These have been so amusing, I couldn’t help compile a list.

Note: All videos below start at the beginning of the relevant clips.

The recently-concluded Sunday night highlight was almost shameless in their promotion of the Samsung Gear S2.

Watch the scene:

[viki start=2175]https://www.viki.com/videos/1082511v-bromance-episode-14?utm_source=soompi&utm_medium=soompi_news&utm_campaign=soompi_link&utm_content=5-drama-product-placements-that-went-hilariously-overboard&utm_content_id=846259wpp[/viki]

Now don’t we all need a Gear S2 just so we can monitor our heart rate when our girl/boyfriend dials our extension?

“Now before we drink let’s remember to take some vitamins”

This cracked me up. Did they even try?

No better way to show off a phone’s waterproof qualities than to have an old lady prepare lunch, drop her phone into the sink, and then have her daughter point out right after that “the phone is waterproof”!

As if it wasn’t random enough having an entire scene of Anxi (Mandy Wei) cleaning her new boyfriend (Jasper Liu)’s study, she’s full of praise for that standing vacuum cleaner.

Watch the scenes here:

[viki start=1995]https://www.viki.com/videos/1069047v-when-i-see-you-again-episode-12?utm_source=soompi&utm_medium=soompi_news&utm_campaign=soompi_link&utm_content=5-drama-product-placements-that-went-hilariously-overboard&utm_content_id=846259wpp[/viki]

As she was for a hand blender a few episodes later:

[viki start=3703]https://www.viki.com/videos/1069054v-when-i-see-you-again-episode-19?utm_source=soompi&utm_medium=soompi_news&utm_campaign=soompi_link&utm_content=5-drama-product-placements-that-went-hilariously-overboard&utm_content_id=846259wpp[/viki]

By the way, I have a standing vacuum cleaner now, and I am thinking of getting a hand blender.

This production was excessive in terms of product placement (think visits to restaurants, supermarkets and flights in and out of the city) but the female lead’s father’s visit to the HTC flagship store took the cake in the following episode.

Watch the scene:

[viki start=3694]https://www.viki.com/videos/1083117v-taste-of-love-episode-7?utm_source=soompi&utm_medium=soompi_news&utm_campaign=soompi_link&utm_content=5-drama-product-placements-that-went-hilariously-overboard&utm_content_id=846259wpp[/viki]

“Do you really sell mobile phones?” “Yes! And if you buy it at a flagship store you get a discount.”

These are just five product placement examples that are almost ridiculous. What other shows with excessive product placements have you watched?

10twentyeight grew up watching dramas and has been blogging about them for the past six years. She is ecstatic to have found a way to share her love for them while waiting for her K-pop biases to be discharged from military duty. Currently looking forward to Eric’s new drama, and just about anything from BTS!