Some time ago, I noticed a Starbucks coffee cup in front of a news anchor for MSNBC and wondered if it was a casual mistake or paid placement.
Now comes word that McDonalds is, in fact, paying to have their coffee cups displayed in front of news anchors:
“The Las Vegas Sun reported last week that Meredith-owned KVVU, a Fox affiliate, placed cups of McDonald’s iced coffee on the anchor desk during the morning show in recent weeks. The New York Times reported that other Meredith-owned stations across the country have also been accepting product placements during morning programming.” (via)
This has caused much noise in the blog-o-sphere about whether or not this violates the perceived “church and state” separation between news and advertising.
For better or for worse, that barrier fell ages ago and whether or not advertisers get cups in front of anchors is pretty meaningless at this point. Besides, go to CNN.com or any other news website and the news is surrounded by various forms of advertising. How is that product placement any different?
The press around the Olympics/McDonalds sponsored ARG, The Lost Ring, continues to grow. The NYT actually has McDonalds on record admitting to their involvement.
“I think finding out that it was McDonald’s was kind of a big shock for everyone,” said Geoff May, a player in Ontario who founded a Web site (olympics.wikibruce.com) on the game. “Obviously it’s McDonald’s, and not everyone likes them,” he said. “Personally, I don’t mind as long as we don’t get products forced down our throat. If we’re getting McDonald’s meals sold by characters, it’s going to be hard to suspend our disbelief.”
Over on CNet, they poked around and discovered that players are starting to get involved:
“It turns out that up in Kitchener, Ontario, a bunch of players spent some time over the last few days taking part training for the “lost” sport of Olympia, the human labyrinth, McGonigal told me Tuesday morning. Of course, the overarching story line of The Lost Ring is to discover the great lost sport of the Olympics.”
I’m still not ready to go search for the lost ring myself, but I think it is fun to read about and follow.
Wired is reporting that FindTheLostRing ARG discussed previously is, in fact, sponsored by McDonalds and the Olympics.
“In a sign that alternate-reality games have finally hit the mainstream, McDonald’s appears to be sponsoring what could be the biggest, most ambitious such campaign to date…McDonald’s participation was apparently confirmed Monday by a piece of legalese players discovered on the game’s starting website. These terms and conditions not only out Mickey D’s, they also hint at the official Olympic sponsor’s motivation: By agreeing to McDonald’s terms of use, the page reads, “You agree to immerse yourself in solving a global mystery and help us in our mission to bring the world together through play.”
It’s interesting that the presence of a major corporate sponsor doesn’t seem to be dampening excitement about the game. We’ll have to see how McD’s works its marketing into the process.
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July 24, 2008 4:58 pm | 
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