Product Placement in The Office 12/14/14

My favorite thing to watch on TV is The Office.  For those who don't know, it is a series about people filming a fake documentary about normal people in a paper company in Pennsylvania.  Along with being hilarious and entertaining, The Office also has product placement embedded in its episodes.  Staples is a major company that appears on many episodes.  In the image above, Dwight has left Dunder Mifflin (his original paper company) and took a job at Staples.  By sending one of the show's most loved and funniest characters to Staples, this is conveying the message that Staples is a place where hilarious and lovable people work.  This is also saying that Staples environment is a fun one to shop in because you could run into people just like Dwight working there.

This is another clip of the show that uses Staples as product placement.  The part from the episode runs from 0:06-1:18.  In this segment, Kevin (one of the dumber people working at the office) is given the task of shredding paper for the office.  Kevin begins by saying that shredding the company documents is "really all I need."  This feeling of happiness Kevin says he gets when he shreds paper then gives the consumer the impression that buying a Staples paper shredder is not only easy (because a dumb member of The Office can use it) but it is also an enjoyable experience, which is something that cannot necessarily be said for other paper shredders.  The clip then jumps to images of Kevin shredding multiple things such as paper, cds, and his credit card in his shredder saying that the shredder can "shred anything."  This demonstrates Staples reliability and good features that its products have.  The scene ends by using more wit and humor-- Kevin shreds a piece of lettuce to make a salad.  Another coworker walks by and asks him where he got the salad and Kevin responds, "Staples."  This makes the consumer focus on the product and for the first times makes them attach a name to the product being shown.  It was a clever way to market their shredder.  I thought it was funny and conveyed the messages that they wanted to send well.