Dated Product Placement in TPTR

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mtwentz
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Dated Product Placement in TPTR

Post by mtwentz »

Skype definitely fits that bill (part 7).

Anything else?
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NormoftheAndes
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Re: Dated Product Placement in TPTR

Post by NormoftheAndes »

Are you saying Skype is dated? Is it?

The use of the Blackberry phone was notable.
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Jonah
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Re: Dated Product Placement in TPTR

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I think Skype for Business is closing down this year and Zoom seems to have overtaken it in many respects, especially during the pandemic.

Was there much out-of-date product placement in the original show? I seem to remember Cherry Coke (which is still available in some countries I think, maybe the US, but not as widespread as it was then? Though I might be wrong about that!). The only other stuff I remember offhand is Dale's dictaphone, Ernie's cellphone (but not much use of them otherwise), and maybe a couple of VCRs and tube TVS? Think there was a video camera too but no sure if we actually saw it? Maybe we saw a few of them. I think part of the reason the original series looked so timeless was there was less technology used in it and while 90's it still could be sort of 50's or 70's apart from a few things. A lot of the clothes were 50's style weren't they?
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Re: Dated Product Placement in TPTR

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Jonah wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 10:38 am I think Skype for Business is closing down this year and Zoom seems to have overtaken it in many respects, especially during the pandemic.

Was there much out-of-date product placement in the original show? I seem to remember Cherry Coke (which is still available in some countries I think, maybe the US, but not as widespread as it was then? Though I might be wrong about that!). The only other stuff I remember offhand is Dale's dictaphone, Ernie's cellphone (but not much use of them otherwise), and maybe a couple of VCRs and tube TVS? Think there was a video camera too but no sure if we actually saw it? Maybe we saw a few of them. I think part of the reason the original series looked so timeless was there was less technology used in it and while 90's it still could be sort of 50's or 70's apart from a few things. A lot of the clothes were 50's style weren't they?
I don't think this is strictly anecdotal, but Cherry Coke is in my house right now! As far as I know, Cherry Coke has remained active always and forever and is my drink of choice with a meal. You may very well be thinking of something else on this one!
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Jonah
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Re: Dated Product Placement in TPTR

Post by Jonah »

Hmm, maybe the cherry coke thing is a case of the Mandela Effect on my part.

Are you in the US? It was popular in my country for a brief period in the 90's and not since (Edit - I checked and it was only available in certain places here but has apparently been available more widely since the last five years or so. Would like to hear from other people in the UK and Europe - was it briefly popular then discontinued and unavailable or limited availability in your country for years too?) I assume this might be the case all across Europe but I'm not sure. I also remember seeing it in other US shows around that time in the early 90's but not so much since so I just assumed it was no longer relevant or as popular - or maybe it was more popular/new in the 80's or early 90's? Anyway, I don't know, I just know you don't see it here much but you did then and I remember seeing it in US TV shows at the time but not now.
Last edited by Jonah on Tue Jul 06, 2021 12:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Dated Product Placement in TPTR

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IT'S THE MOST POPULAR OF ALL COLAS AROUND THE GLOBE AND NO ONE CAN TELL ME OTHERWISE I'M DRINKING IT RIGHT NOW!

(This is a joke. I'm not drinking it right now. I'm not allowed to have much of it because then I start typing in all-caps. But yes I'm in the US and it's always been available in just about every restaurant and every grocery store since I can remember.)
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Re: Dated Product Placement in TPTR

Post by JackwithOneEye »

zoom got mentioned on The Handmaids Tale finale rather than skype.
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Re: Dated Product Placement in TPTR

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LateReg wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 12:23 pm IT'S THE MOST POPULAR OF ALL COLAS AROUND THE GLOBE AND NO ONE CAN TELL ME OTHERWISE I'M DRINKING IT RIGHT NOW!

(This is a joke. I'm not drinking it right now. I'm not allowed to have much of it because then I start typing in all-caps. But yes I'm in the US and it's always been available in just about every restaurant and every grocery store since I can remember.)
Was it newer or more popular in the US during the original run of TP than it is now?

I don't know - maybe that was just here. I can confirm some of what I said by Googling. According to what I've found, it was only avaialble here in certain UK supermarkets until recently (and I wouldn't have known about it becoming more widely avaialble as stopped drinking sodas years ago). I can find that much online. But with regards to remembering it being widely popular here/new/then discontinued, that's my memory which may be faulty, though it does line up bit with what I've found out.

This is a weird tangent I started, but would be interested to see if any other Europeans can back up what I'm saying lol!
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Re: Dated Product Placement in TPTR

Post by LateReg »

Ha, yeah, I can only attest to the US, and I'm not sure about its history. And it's not necessarily something that I know to be popular, either. But it has always been available. The thing is...I'm the only person I know who regularly drinks it. When I drink pop, that is, I prefer a Cherry Coke. I don't know many other people. So I wonder if it's genuinely unpopular where you're from, or if maybe you just think it's not popular because you and no one you know drinks it? Like, would I view it as unpopular if I didn't drink it? Or would my seeing it on the shelves at every store and in most restaurants lead me to conclude that it's popular? I mean, if you don't see it at your stores where you're at, then it's very possible it simply stuck around in the US and not elsewhere. A real mystery!
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Re: Dated Product Placement in TPTR

Post by Jonah »

I checked online and it says it was only available in a couple of select stores in my country, not widely available, until a few years ago - so it definitely wasn't very popular here. But I do have a dim memory of it being a bit of a craze in the early 90's or mid 90's maybe when it was first released here? But then it went away (confirmed by the online info of it only being in a couple of select UK chains). It's apparently more widely available now but I never see it so I doubt it's majorly popular.
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Re: Dated Product Placement in TPTR

Post by Histeria »

Was the Skype thing product placement (as in paid for)?

I just assumed it was two dated people using a dated communication service but perceiving it as cutting edge.
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Re: Dated Product Placement in TPTR

Post by Kilmoore »

Worth noting, though, that Skype and Skype for Business are two different things. SfB used be Lynx. Microsoft rebranded it as Skype for Business after they bought Skype. The consumer Skype is still fine and relevant even though SfB is being shut down, replaced by Teams.
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Jonah
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Re: Dated Product Placement in TPTR

Post by Jonah »

I don't know about Skype but I'm still waiting for other Europeans to weigh in on the Cherry Coke stuff so I know it wasn't a Mandela Effect lol.
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Re: Dated Product Placement in TPTR

Post by LateReg »

Histeria wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 2:37 am Was the Skype thing product placement (as in paid for)?

I just assumed it was two dated people using a dated communication service but perceiving it as cutting edge.
I could very well be wrong on this, but it is my understanding that none of any of it is technically product placement. There are so many different (sometimes similar, conflicting) real-world products littered throughout that it reads to me almost as a parody of product placement. There is also that Lynch quote about product placement from years back...he's not a fan.
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Re: Dated Product Placement in TPTR

Post by LateReg »

Jonah wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 4:42 am I don't know about Skype but I'm still waiting for other Europeans to weigh in on the Cherry Coke stuff so I know it wasn't a Mandela Effect lol.
Funnily enough, I was reminded that in The Young Pope (2016), Jude Law's drink of choice is a Cherry Coke Zero. That is, I believe, a European production. I can't remember if they had to import it from America, though, and if that was part of the joke.
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