“In appearance is the promise of what doesn’t appear”

Theodor Adorno, German cultural philosopher

A few weeks ago, I sat down to watch one of the most famous (and longest running) German TV shows–Wetten Dass (Wanna Bet?).  Wetten Dass does not only do well in Germany; it is also the most successful TV show in Europe–deftly combining Celebrity talk show ambiance with bizarre tricks from “the average Joe” (or Fritz in this case).  Wetten Dass only airs every couple of months, but the show is long…lasting about 2-3 hours without commercial interruption.

While I was watching the show, a guy bet that he could (blindfolded) detect the individual & personal smell of 30 different sweaty feet of people on his sports team.  I almost felt like puking as he swirled each of the shoes to detect the smell…and yep, he even managed to win the bet.

Then, a girl proposed a bet which involved drinking multiple cans of tea as fast as possible.  I thought it was curious that the tea cans she drank were wrapped with brown paper, but then it dawned on me, Wetten Das airs on ZDF a state (or public) TV channel where branded tea logos are not allowed on the set.

No Produkt Placement?

In Germany, there is a public broadcasting rule that forbids the inclusion of unmarked advertising.  The intent of the rule is to keep content and advertising separate.  While restrictions have relaxed for private channels in Germany, publicly funded stations like ZDF still have to abide by the rules.

No Problem!

So if you want to display a “real” branded item on public TV, you’ll need to use something fake.  Schein Berlin is an agency that specializes in building fake brand concepts and packaging (Note:  Schein also means “appearance” and “fake” in German).  Check out this great article from Jude Stewart to see some of the fun fake brands that Schein has developed.

And, if you want to stay up to date on your fake brands, there is now an excellent fake brand blog called product displacement…celebrating the best in fake branding. My favorite from the product displacement blog is Muff-Mart (50,000 sq. feet of nothing but muffins–from the Simpsons).   Mental Floss also has a breakdown of their top 10 fake brands.  Finally, there is no place like China.  Just check out this blog with pictures of fake brands all over China.

My current personal favorite fake brand (that is now somewhat “real”) is Dharma–the Dharma products on the TV hit series LOST are loads of fun (Dharma Chips, Soda, etc.).

Not going away

A recent move by lawmakers will relax the rules for public TV now in Germany, opening up the floodgates for new product placement.  I saw the first hints of this at the end of most recent airing of Wetten Dass where Audi sponsored the winner of the best bet by offering up a new car.  However, fake brand builders in Germany should not fret…the sport is definitely alive & well.  And, the Dharma example is instructive, showing that even “fake” brands can even turn profitable and become “real”.  In the end, the line between “real” and “fake” blurs. As Stewart points out in his article on Schein Berlin…

more than anything, Schein’s work points to a home-truth about the “real” brand-world: it’s an imaginary reality we dream up, and then live in, daily. Supermarkets, highway shoulders, and all the screens that beguile our idle moments are wallpapered with our longing.

Dharma image from maxpixpix.  Hat tip to Jude Stewart on the great article & quote tip.

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]