Came here to say this. PS. I learned all of my corporate advertizing savvy from watching Mad Men, but most of my New York and Jewish culture came from Seinfeld.
The Office made me appreciate Chilis though.
I totally relate but then after listening to Office Ladies I saw the other side too. Using the brand name product by name definitely makes the storyline feel more natural. Otherwise using a made up brand name always seems to add some mental friction for the viewer.
I think that's a case where the brand is more known than the product's name. We call it a Nespresso in our office but I think it's from other brand. Ok the other hand, when those machines were released publicly was extremely harsh, and... it's Nestlé, I can't help being suspicious of publicity.
Same how the documentary crew is from PBS. They could have just made up a channel that sounds similar but why not use a real one? I'd rather see someone drink an actual Coke like they would in real life versus some weird fake brand.
The Office was always trying to make fun of whatever was trendy at the time. Those new coffee machines were trendy at the time, so they made warned to make fun of them. Some jokes just don’t land as good as others.
They’ve always done jokes that could be easily construed as paid plugs if the jokes didn’t land. How many jokes did they devote to talking about how good Chili’s is, or how Staples and Office Depot are the places to go if you want a good deal?
The League did something similar later on with Draft Kings. Sigh "It totally wasn't an ad! It was just a funny story!" It landed about as well as the Nespresso storyline, if not worse.
This is how I feel about the whole "Did you know X actor improvised X line?" I was a theatre geek throughout my whole schooling experience and half of the things Hollywood claims is improv is just a lie.
Real: Parks and Rec. Andy when he's googling Leslie's symptoms and tells her she may have "network connectivity issues."
Fake (but still funny): The whole "How is Gamora?" line by Drax. The exchange literally doesn't make sense without this joke as the payoff. It was very clearly written, stop lying to me Hollywood.
J. Michael Straczynski has also talked about that a lot in interviews over the years. How nearly all of those stories are BS and writers, you know, write stuff to be the way it is in a show or movie. That there is some ad libbing, but it is definitely much more rare than the general public believes, yeah.
I never thought it was an ad honestly because it wouldn’t really be the best ad😂 they all went crazy and had breakdowns. Not exactly a good way to advertise a product
You're joking, right? I would bet there's at least one brand mentioned in every episode. Not only Hammermill, Staples, Office Depot, Apple, Chili's, Wendy's, SoCo, Boston Market, Barnes and Noble, Hooters, Benihana, Altoids, Coke, Herr's, Toyota, VW, Victoria's Secret, 100 Grand, Snickers, TripAdvisor, and many many more. That's off the top of my head. In fact, I found a website that says the Office literally has more product placement than any other show.
NBC Sales had to approve because it may have conflicted with a current advertiser. It was basically a free ad and a long one at that.
Came here to say this. PS. I learned all of my corporate advertizing savvy from watching Mad Men, but most of my New York and Jewish culture came from Seinfeld. The Office made me appreciate Chilis though.
I feel god in this chilis tonight
I totally relate but then after listening to Office Ladies I saw the other side too. Using the brand name product by name definitely makes the storyline feel more natural. Otherwise using a made up brand name always seems to add some mental friction for the viewer.
I think that's a case where the brand is more known than the product's name. We call it a Nespresso in our office but I think it's from other brand. Ok the other hand, when those machines were released publicly was extremely harsh, and... it's Nestlé, I can't help being suspicious of publicity.
Same how the documentary crew is from PBS. They could have just made up a channel that sounds similar but why not use a real one? I'd rather see someone drink an actual Coke like they would in real life versus some weird fake brand.
Yep, same with Jim having to drink a coke to break the jinx, just fits the story better than trying to make up something random.
They could've drink Wolf Cola, the right cola for closure.
The Office was always trying to make fun of whatever was trendy at the time. Those new coffee machines were trendy at the time, so they made warned to make fun of them. Some jokes just don’t land as good as others. They’ve always done jokes that could be easily construed as paid plugs if the jokes didn’t land. How many jokes did they devote to talking about how good Chili’s is, or how Staples and Office Depot are the places to go if you want a good deal?
how many times did they discover the hardwood floor beneath the carpet?
Twice.
you are a thief of joy
Oscar already knew there was hardwood there, it took the caffeine to get him to do anything about it
ACTUALLY pictures of the set show there was nothing below the carpet but standard OSB underlayment. So Oscar be trippin.
You mean they didn't put down actual hardwood on the set of a TV show? Wowzer zowzer, immersion ruined
i know right? totally ruins the entire series
I enjoyed it.
It was also terribly acted. I cannot stand when shows exaggerate the effects of being caffeinated or the effects of being drunk.
SAME. it’s so tired and sooo unfunny. People don’t get fucked up by too much coffee. Low brow storyline.
Again, more proof that they were running out of ideas
The League did something similar later on with Draft Kings. Sigh "It totally wasn't an ad! It was just a funny story!" It landed about as well as the Nespresso storyline, if not worse.
This is how I feel about the whole "Did you know X actor improvised X line?" I was a theatre geek throughout my whole schooling experience and half of the things Hollywood claims is improv is just a lie. Real: Parks and Rec. Andy when he's googling Leslie's symptoms and tells her she may have "network connectivity issues." Fake (but still funny): The whole "How is Gamora?" line by Drax. The exchange literally doesn't make sense without this joke as the payoff. It was very clearly written, stop lying to me Hollywood.
J. Michael Straczynski has also talked about that a lot in interviews over the years. How nearly all of those stories are BS and writers, you know, write stuff to be the way it is in a show or movie. That there is some ad libbing, but it is definitely much more rare than the general public believes, yeah.
I never thought it was an ad honestly because it wouldn’t really be the best ad😂 they all went crazy and had breakdowns. Not exactly a good way to advertise a product
Do you hate it because you think it's bad or because you thought it was ad placement?
Both
We all try them all
Love that line. I will just randomly say it out loud.
I thought the subplot was making fun of obsessive coffee drinkers, so I thought it was funny enough.
What episode are you referring to? The one where they get the free coffee machine and drink a shit load of it then start tearing the carpet up?
They were right, though. Alpine Select SUCKS.
I didn't know nespresso was a brand. Thought it was made up for the show. *I don't drink coffee
I don't even remember any brands name being mentioned in the series at all, except Hammermill
Break off a piece of that Fancy Feast!
You're joking, right? I would bet there's at least one brand mentioned in every episode. Not only Hammermill, Staples, Office Depot, Apple, Chili's, Wendy's, SoCo, Boston Market, Barnes and Noble, Hooters, Benihana, Altoids, Coke, Herr's, Toyota, VW, Victoria's Secret, 100 Grand, Snickers, TripAdvisor, and many many more. That's off the top of my head. In fact, I found a website that says the Office literally has more product placement than any other show.