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fanpop > television > heroes > articles > opinion

The One Thing I Hate About Heroes

Opinion by dave posted 3 years ago
4.5
 by 17 fans
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Nissan Versa. Nissan Versa.
Tim Kring is a genius. Masi Oka is a rockstar. Ali Larter and Hayden Panittiere are smoking hot. NBC's new show Heroes is the talk of the town and for good reason. But there's one very big and painful problem with the show that could only get worse with its popularity...selling out to big corporate ad dollars.

Never before have I seen such blatant product placement in a television show until the day I saw the pilot episode. Every time I see that Nissan Versa or the mention of it on the show makes me cringe. The Apple iPod video was a little less blatant, but irritating nonetheless. Product placement has been creeping up on us for years now, but recently it has become more and more prolific finding its way from film to television and now even into video games (Did you see that giant Coca-Cola billboard go by when you were gunning down grannies in Grand Theft Auto? Sneaky bastards). Sometimes it's very subtle without us knowing that the companies have subliminally programmed us to grab a Coke from the fridge at the 7-Eleven instead of a Pepsi. But othertimes, it's a bit too in your face, in this case having Hiro and Ando mentioning the Nissan Versa in conversation and praise and constant shots of the little blue car. It obviously adds nothing to the show but a disgusting plug for a new car from Nissan. That ends up leaving a bad taste in everyone's mouth including the people who might buy said Nissan Versa. It looks like Nissan has paid the folks over at Desperate Housewives a pretty penny as well, having their emblem show up twice in the last episode. So much for artistic integrity.

I'm hoping that they just had deals and sponsorships signed for the first season and that they will end there. The last thing I would want to see is Nathan Petrelli flying in a pair of Dockers khakis. Or Matt Parkman soothing his headaches from all the voices from mind-reading with Advil. Or Hiro Nakamura checking his Rolex watch when he stops time. We already saw our hero James Bond sellout to BMW and Ericsson. Please Mr. Kring, I implore you for the love of all that is creative and genuine, don't let these Heroes become another billboard.
Nissan plastered all over the online web comic.
In case you forgot the model name...that was a Nissan Versa.
Who wouldn't want to buy an Apple Video iPod playing Ali Larter taking off her clothes?
Susan (Teri Hatcher) sneaks behind some cars like this Nissan on Desperate Housewives
She sneaks behind a few more cars and lo and behold a Nissan Altima!
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7 comments
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greedo said:
Spot on. I'm also sick of the Nissan Versa peddling. There have seriously been whole scenes showcasing the car. I recall one scene in which Hiro is literally sitting in the car twiddling with the windshield wipers thinking about what his next move will be.

And you forgot to post a pic about the ultimate sellout Hero:
http://www.ealasaid.com/fan/mysterymen//im­age­s/a­maz­ing­.jp­g

Who could forget Captain Amazing!
posted 3 years ago.
 
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deymann said:
It is bad, but no where near as gawd-awful as the horribly shoe-horned in Cisco commercial in the middle of Vanished last week. Vanished was bad enough without that. Did anyone see that?
posted 3 years ago.
 
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flutterly said:
I personally don't even notice product placement. Then again, I'm usually doing other things while watching TV, so maybe I'm just missing the little details. I didn't even realize the Nissan Versa thing was product placement.. if I was buying a car, I would have though, "Oh, cool, that car was in Heroes," but that wouldn't have made me want to buy it. Maybe it's just me.
posted 3 years ago.
 
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wangela said:
haha, i like the nissan versa product placement. it fits with their kooky tone in those pharmaceutical-ad-parody nissan versa commercials. it's like, "we know it's selling out, so we'll go over the top with it."
posted 3 years ago.
 
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Wait a minute! How much did Nissan pay you to say "Nissan" in your post? You mentioned their product 11 times and showed pictures! Oh my god! When will the product placement madness end??? (This post brought to you by Centrum Silver.)
posted 3 years ago.
 
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patty19 said:
Hahaha, that was great. It's good to see a sense of humor about this.
posted 2 years ago.
 
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Well it's gotta get it's funds somehow. If the programme WASN'T a hit (in which there WAS in fact a chance it couldn't have been, I mean aren't YOU sick of all these comic book charater films and programmes?), well they didn't wanna rely 100% on the viewing figures but that a part of it could be a nice little nest egg for AT least (at the time) one season.

I know it's bad now and how a lot-a lot was in the beginning episodes, but I REALLY think it'll die down if not die-fullstop now it's a phenomenon and obviously in the heads and hearts of millions worldwide.
posted 2 years ago.
 
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