Over the last few months (hey, I don't watch much TV) I've noticed some pretty sly product placements in Sri Lankan music videos, to the extent that there is clearly some money changing hands here. Not a bad thing, considering how small the local market is, and that most of the music is pretty good, and pretty creative too. Here are just a couple; check out the related ones too:
Ashanthi:
- a womens' health supplement (? the pills in the purple box)
- a new fizzy drink being heavily promoted
- Mercedes might be a long shot, and Hummer an even longer one - I'll chalk those up to de rigeur rap-video props [later update - turns out the Hummer may have been a product placement too; I love how Sri Lankan companies brashly crown themselves "#1," "world's leading," etc with doubtless no evidence whatsoever]
- just to editorialize, I thought the little laptop face-off between Ashanthi and the rapper (DeLon?) was cleverly done
Iraj
- An European three-wheeler competing with the Indian brand
- another fizzy drink promoted as an essential accompaniment to any meal (perfect as this song is about food!)
- Other videos by Iraj have featured cellphone operators, fizzy drinks from the same manufacturer, and, not sure about this one, match manufacturers?
A while after I'd started on and forgotten this post, I noticed quite a bit of product placement in a Pussy Cat Dolls video too, and, in the interest of science, watched a few more to turn up some more such as
- Nokia, HP, and Campari in Hush Hush; Hush Hush
- Gratuitous Nokia in Jai Ho
- and now, when I look back, in most of their videos I guess
