Walking Dead Knives

AntDog said:
One mo time - whether you want to believe it or not, it IS product placement. It does not matter how long the product is shown for it to be "as seen on the walking dead". Get it? There are advertisers marketing their products "as seen on the walking dead". Still with me? What about that is not product placement and marketing? I'm just saying it most definitely goes on. I have eyes. I see it.

You keep mentioning "folding knives". What is your hangup there bro? The two stars of the show as far as knives go are the sword and the TGLB. Don't look much like folders to me.... And yes, it does so happen that TONS of people wind up on this very site, and others, trying to identify, and purchase the stuff they see used on the show. You can try to rebut this all you want, but facts are facts. If something is being marketed "as seen on....." It was on there for a reason, and that's a fact.

We may have to agree to disagree.
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And we do. Jeeze, dude, you think every single item you see on a screen has a product placement agreement? :glee:

It certainly DOES matter in a product placement agreement how long the product will be shown in a shot. And anyone is free to say their product was seen on so-and-so program without being contractually obligated to the program. Got it? These statements alone tell me you don't have a depth of knowledge about which you speak.

Although SOME such placement agreements may be made in advance of production, it's not mandatory in order to allow an advertiser to state, "As seen on TV." If a program uses a certain item, said item manufacturer is free to tell the world that it was seen there--and doesn't REQUIRE a formal agreement with the show any more than Jimmy Kimmel can't discuss what appeared in an episode of a popular show that evening.

Do you not know there are many a Hollywood producer who have said, "We should have gotten an agreement with them before we released the movie..." when a product unexpectedly breaks through due to being shown in a film and the manufacturer is clucking everywhere about how it was featured in the movie??

Understand now?​

Folding knives, fixed...doesn't matter--if there were as much "product placement" in the show as what you put forth, the portrayal of knives wouldn't require near the effort people put in here of trying to find a single screen shot to identify them. They would be shown properly on screen for more than a second and in decent light. I've yet to see much of that on the show.

And Fred and Martha sitting at home watching still have no clue as to the brand or model of the knife they are looking at, even if it's on the screen for a full minute--the shot ends and they still don't know what they were looking at and don't care. This is a wise expense of advertising dollars?? Do you actually believe Fred and spouse think of the sword and GTLB as the knife stars of the show as you do? An infinitesimally small percentage of viewers can identify individual knives by sight like you, I and other knife nuts sometimes can.​

I've said time and again there may be some product placement in the show--maybe even for the sword and TGLB (though I doubt it). But not nearly the extent to which you seem to believe. Sometimes programs and movies just utilize props--at times it's necessary. :)

Someone in the Busse forum may know if there is an agreement in existence with the show. It would be interesting to find out.

And ya still haven't told me where you saw the Gerber ad.
 
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I saw the Gerber ad on tv - during the damn show! And no, products do not necessarily have to be shown for a specified length of time in all cases. The company can say "we will pay you X amount of dollars to use our product on your show". See? I did it right there and specified no time limit. I bet it can work that way when lawyers do it tooooo... Only with more legalese. I also never said anybody was necessarily contractually obligated to do anything. I said the products they use on the show are used for a reason. You think it's because the knives are what the prop guy had. I think they are being paid by Gerber at the very least. It would seem asinine to assume they are not. (Because of the commercials)

And that, my friend, was only the freaking knives we have been discussing. What's next - you're gonna tell my Hyundai didn't pay em off? Come ON!!! Open your eyes! Look at the freakin Hyundai! They show it all.the.time. They drive it down dirt roads and it's still miraculously clean! Wonder why? Product placement. That's right, product placement!

Also, I couldn't care less what you think you know about my "depth of knowledge". You sir, can keep going through life with blinders on. I am not continuing this pissing match.
 
AntDog said:
I saw the Gerber ad on tv - during the damn show! And no, products do not necessarily have to be shown for a specified length of time in all cases. The company can say "we will pay you X amount of dollars to use our product on your show". See? I did it right there and specified no time limit. I bet it can work that way when lawyers do it tooooo... Only with more legalese. I also never said anybody was necessarily contractually obligated to do anything. I said the products they use on the show are used for a reason. You think it's because the knives are what the prop guy had. I think they are being paid by Gerber at the very least. It would seem asinine to assume they are not. (Because of the commercials)

And that, my friend, was only the freaking knives we have been discussing. What's next - you're gonna tell my Hyundai didn't pay em off? Come ON!!! Open your eyes! Look at the freakin Hyundai! They show it all.the.time. They drive it down dirt roads and it's still miraculously clean! Wonder why? Product placement. That's right, product placement!

Also, I couldn't care less what you think you know about my "depth of knowledge". You sir, can keep going through life with blinders on. I am not continuing this pissing match.
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If that's what you consider it, in the interest of your blood pressure I won't either. Except to say:.

Sorry, but when one discusses formal product placement within a show it DOES imply contractual obligation. That's how such arrangements are arrived at in the real world.

Game, set, match WHAT??? :triumphant: I've said--about five times--there may well be placement agreements on the show. If the Gerber ad was during the show there may be a placement agreement. I've never seen a knife advertisement in the show's ad rotation. I'll watch for one when the season starts. In fact I haven't seen a knife maker ad on TV in a long time. I'd like to.

BTW....the Gerber campaign you found online was in 2011.

Nor have I ever seen more than once or twice a knife linger in a Walking Dead shot or be well lit enough to consider it a product placement. My guess is that if there ARE such agreements they're exclusive to only one, maybe two, brands which is par for such agreements as well.

I haven't seen every second of every episode of the Walking Dead nor have I seen some of the commercials they air during the show. I may have missed scenes where there were knives shown in real product placement shots. Gerber may well have such an agreement with them, OK? Never said they didn't.

But the extent to which you seem to think nearly every knife or piece of equipment on this or any show is under written product placement agreement is just poppycock.
 
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Not TWD related but zombie AND product placement related... recently learned that Zombie Tools made all of the props for the first Mortal Instruments movie that was out last year. Kinda neat, although the Zombie Tools team readily admits the movie sucked hard in their opinion. :P
 
I should rename this thread "Is there product placement in TWD?" :rolleyes:

AntDog, sorry man, but im gonna have to agree with EChoil. The knives arent on screen long enough or well shown enough for them to be product placement (for the most part). Obviously the gerbers are, but there are many other knives on the show that just flash across the screen and are gone in no time. Wouldnt you think the company whos product is being placed in the show require that they linger on the product long enough that the viewer can see it? You would think that would have to be somewhere in the contract if a company is actually going to take the time to work out a deal like that. Why would spyderco pay good money to get their knife flashed for half a second on a show? Nobody's gonna see it in the single frame that its in and say "whats that? I want that knife! I saw TWD IMPLY that Rick took it out and cut something with it off camera!"

Im not arguing about product placement in TWD, but rather its extent. Im not blind. The Hyundai you mentioned is definately product placement, and so are the gerbers, but the random benchmade or spyderco that flashes across the screen is not,IMO.
 
Didn't read all of the argument, but all a company has to do(in this case Gerber) is put a product in the show or movie and briefly show it. Then, they say "check out these here zombie killin' tools, made by Gerber, featured in The Walking Dead!". Which they did. That's product placement. Product placement is an ad. It can be used to display a product as something awesome in the show or movie itself, or the company(Gerber) can leech off of the success of the show or movie by way of association.

I don't get why this is even an argument. That kind of marketing has been used in both ways for decades.
 
I know, its kinda a pointless argument. These two have kept it going for a while now so i just thought id chime in.

I hear what your saying, but i would argue that its not product placement for two reasons: the one I said above (which would apply to subliminal type product placement), and the fact that no one but gerber has really mentioned their knives being used in TWD (which would be the overt kind of placement you are referring to).
 
Krissig12 said:
I should rename this thread "Is there product placement in TWD?" :rolleyes:
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It's alright man, we know where you wanted to go with it. We took it there. ;)

Gerber may not even care how long their knives are on-screen (I have absolutely no idea and am not making any statements here) but as long they are there for even a second, they then get to say "as seen on TV's THE WALKING DEAD!" and once they do that, they probably sell some knives.

That said, I think a lot of people,, myself included, Google "what knife was in..." or they go on the forums here to ask. I just posted a question about a knife in Sons of Anarchy a few days ago... it was there for a couple seconds and although I had no idea what it was, some people here were observant enough to figure it out, it happens.
 
RedLynx said:
It's alright man, we know where you wanted to go with it. We took it there. ;)

Gerber may not even care how long their knives are on-screen (I have absolutely no idea and am not making any statements here) but as long they are there for even a second, they then get to say "as seen on TV's THE WALKING DEAD!" and once they do that, they probably sell some knives.

That said, I think a lot of people,, myself included, Google "what knife was in..." or they go on the forums here to ask. I just posted a question about a knife in Sons of Anarchy a few days ago... it was there for a couple seconds and although I had no idea what it was, some people here were observant enough to figure it out, it happens.
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My argument is that since the knives arent there long enough to subliminally make the viewer want them, and the manufacturers arent advertising and cashing in on their knives being in the show (like gerber did), It really doesnt seem like product placement to me.
 
RedLynx said:
It's alright man, we know where you wanted to go with it. We took it there. ;)

Gerber may not even care how long their knives are on-screen (I have absolutely no idea and am not making any statements here) but as long they are there for even a second, they then get to say "as seen on TV's THE WALKING DEAD!" and once they do that, they probably sell some knives.

That said, I think a lot of people,, myself included, Google "what knife was in..." or they go on the forums here to ask. I just posted a question about a knife in Sons of Anarchy a few days ago... it was there for a couple seconds and although I had no idea what it was, some people here were observant enough to figure it out, it happens.
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Exactly. Gerber especially is well known for duping the layman with weak or mystery steels and/or shoddy construction combined with big words. Jumping on the back of a well-liked tv show to sell more junk to the hapless fans sounds just like them. Sometimes marketing can be remarkably passive.

In other cases, as in World War Z, marketing like the famous Pepsi(?) moment ended up being forgettable. I'm not even sure it was a Pepsi and I just watched it.

BUSSE for one doesn't seem like the type of company to advertise in that way. Likely because advertising would eat up money that they'd rather spend on great knives. Gerber, on the other hand, makes or made junk and is a larger company backed by Fiskars. When quality is crap, learn how to sell crap to people, right?

However, they did find the tools in a car. I'm willing to bet they'd do ok at zombie whackin. Just funny how they were all MARKETED AS ZOMBIE WEAPONS. Sorry, my caps was on. This is a fun discussion.
 
I guess I dont really pay attention..the only blades I've seen in the show was Gerbers "Apocalypse Kit". Also Carol's folding knife seen in the earlier seasons, I was thinking about re-watching anyways
 
Did you look at the links I posted? Particularly the one stating the ad agency Gerber hired ran an award winning product placement campaign? Did you not check out the link on Gerber's website explaining the product placement agreement they have with the show? Jesus Christ! I had this "argument" won just by using common sense, then I looked around a minute and found PROOF, and you still don't believe it? What's it going to take?! All your post did was try to throw more confusion on the subject. The links I posted are irrefutable proof. If that doesn't end this I don't know what will!!!!

I guess with some people you can tell them "hey there's shit over there". Most will believe you, but some aren't satisfied until they've rolled around in it. Look at the links, admit that now you know, and move on.
 
Krissig12 said:
I know, its kinda a pointless argument. These two have kept it going for a while now so i just thought id chime in.

I hear what your saying, but i would argue that its not product placement for two reasons: the one I said above (which would apply to subliminal type product placement), and the fact that no one but gerber has really mentioned their knives being used in TWD (which would be the overt kind of placement you are referring to).
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It IS product placement. It is an openly admitted fact. Read the links I posted.
 
Krissig12 said:
My argument is that since the knives arent there long enough to subliminally make the viewer want them, and the manufacturers arent advertising and cashing in on their knives being in the show (like gerber did), It really doesnt seem like product placement to me.
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I totally get it, and I'm not trying to argue so I hope it isn't coming across that way.

Like Remy, I just find it a fun discussion.

Let's take an example like the TV series Lost (some people spell it as LOST and I am not sure why but that seems obnoxious so I won't.)

I watched all but the last season, and I remember most of it pretty well. Locke was my favorite character both because he (kinda sort of not really) overcame a physical disability and he had a crap-load of cool looking knives. Knives were a pretty big staple in that show and I'd be willing to say the knives in that show would probably constitute product placement in a very blatant way (aside from just being cool). Unfortunately I don't remember any specific Locke knife well enough to say now what they all were but I bet some fixed blade aficionados here can tell.

I do remember one episode, Kate and Juliet were handcuffed (together I think) and Juliet tried using a Kershaw Chive to spring the lock. Sadly even that little bugger was too big. ;) The Chive wasn't on screen long but it's a distinctive knife for us knife-knuts/Kershaw fans.
 
AntDog said:
Did you look at the links I posted? Particularly the one stating the ad agency Gerber hired ran an award winning product placement campaign? Did you not check out the link on Gerber's website explaining the product placement agreement they have with the show? Jesus Christ! I had this "argument" won just by using common sense, then I looked around a minute and found PROOF, and you still don't believe it? What's it going to take?! All your post did was try to throw more confusion on the subject. The links I posted are irrefutable proof. If that doesn't end this I don't know what will!!!!

I guess with some people you can tell them "hey there's shit over there". Most will believe you, but some aren't satisfied until they've rolled around in it. Look at the links, admit that now you know, and move on.
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Yeah I read it. I commented on the fact that it was from 2011. And for the seventh time, no one EVER said there was no product placement on the show.

*LOL* What is it you have proved? You seem to miss a lot and require a lot of repetition. Can you read??? I'm not confused; you seem to be. God settle down, it's a TeeVee show. :surprise:
 
Speaking of cool knife product placement or lack thereof, one of my favorites, Supernatural, uses a fairly large number of cool Kershaws as EDCs for the main characters.

In season 2 and I think part of season 3 they switched it up and both of the guys mostly carried/used Buck 110s (unless they needed to bring big fixed blades) and later switched back to mostly Kershaws. They tend to linger fairly long on a lot of the knives. It's pretty cool.
 
Ok AntDog, its obvious your gettin really worked up over this.

I will say this as simply as I possibly can.... YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!! I AM COMPLETELY IN AGREEMENT!!! You keep bringing up proof that gerber is using product placement, but no one has said that they werent! WE KNOW GERBER IS USING PRODUCT PLACEMENT! We are talking about the other knives that are flashed across the screen in an instant and whos companies have yet to say anything about! THOSE are not product placement, IMO

Please read and comprehend my posts before responding....
 
EChoil said:
Yeah I read it. I commented on the fact that it was from 2011. And for the seventh time, no one EVER said there was no product placement on the show.

*LOL* What is it you have proved? You seem to miss a lot and require a lot of repetition. Can you read??? I'm not confused; you seem to be. God settle down, it's a TeeVee show. :surprise:
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post 32:

Hard to imagine huge placement dollars for knives on a show that obviously quick-cuts or shadows any shot showing a knife--the very reason they can rarely be identified.

I understand there to be a propmaster who has a hell of a collection of knives who aids in the decisions of who will carry what. Not saying there isn't some level of graft/corruption there but I don't see a lot of 'product placement' shots for the knives on Walking Dead...IMO.

post 52:

Got news for you man--the general public can't tell a Gerber from a Benchmade if it's held on screen for ten minutes. Not exactly the ENVIRONMENT for good dollars to be wasted on product placement.

post 54:

No, it DOES matter how long the knives are shown and how displayed when a product placement agreement is in effect.

No, the general PUBLIC does not instantly recognize a brand and/or style of folding knife from a couple of seconds glance on a TV show. Far from it. And the logos and printing on blades are far too small to be seen on a shot. This renders a 'placement' buy ineffective for the most part--a waste of ad dollars that could be placed elsewhere.

While knife aficionados may be able to identify a blade in a two second film shot, the public doesn't have a clue. Even if a knife shot were held on screen long enough to really look at, Fred and Martha sitting on their couch have no clue they are looking at anything other that a 'knife.' Such a situation is not ripe for the spending of product placement advertising dollars. And the occasional viewer who may inquire, "Wow, what was that knife Rick was holding...?" would make cost-per-impression prohibitive advertising-wise in such a specific venture.

post 61:

Folding knives, fixed...doesn't matter--if there were as much "product placement" in the show as what you put forth, the portrayal of knives wouldn't require near the effort people put in here of trying to find a single screen shot to identify them. They would be shown properly on screen for MORE than a second and in decent light. I've yet to see much of that on the show.

So, you implied several times that this is not product placement... Then kept everything nice and contradictory by saying "there very well may be product placement", etc. So which is it? Is it going on or not?
 
Mabye EChoil implied it

But if you asked him directly, I bet you he would answer yes to the question of "Is gerber using product placement in TWD?" I know i would.

Were on your side man, we just disagree with the extent of the product placement in TWD
 
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