The going rate for product placement can range from $1,000 to $5,000 depending on complexity of the shoot according to Nalts in his blog willvideoforfood.com. “The trick, of course, is to be transparent.”
In the video “Viral Video Broker,” Kevin “Nalts” Nalty masquerades as an obnoxious viral video advertising exec trying to recruit some of YouTubes favourite personalities to shill for popular brands. “Judson, how you doing sir? It’s Kevin,” says Nalts, speaking into the phone.
“Who?” replies Judson Laipply, creator of “Evolution of Dance.”
“I have got a $50,000 cheque with your name on it from McDonalds,” says Nalts. “All they’re asking is that you do the history of dance dressed as Ronald McDonald. You interested?”
“No,” deadpans Mr. Laipply.
“Ahhh, would you settle for Grimace?” says Nalts.
Kalle Lasn, editor in chief of Adbusters magazine and author of Culture Jam, feels product placement on YouTube is a sad development. Mr. Lasn says there are already between 3,000 – 5,000 marketing messages coming into the average North American brain everyday.
