Has Product Placement Gone Too Far in ABC's Path to 9/11?

[h2opolodan11]

It seems to me their just making fun of the James bond stuff like how Omega is used to set off a bomb... it sure didn't make me wanna go buy a Casio. I'm happy with my Timex lol

[jasnodo]

casio is an iconic brand it is like saying hoover for vacumm cleaner or band aid for a plaster no one would pay money for a product placement where 1. you dont actually see the product and 2.. it's being endorsed by a terrorist. come on i dont think the teens are going to be running to the shops for a casio now 

[davisfleetwood]

#UN# I sm curious to get your take on the State of the Union. I hsve mine posted now....

[gladius900]

Haha! The real terrorists!

Rolex!

[WindEnergy]

The US has sent innocent people to Guantanamo Bay, tortured them and sometimes killed them with no other "proof" of their terrorist connections than the fact that they were wearing a Casio F91W at the time they were picked up. There are millions upon millions of these watches around the world. You may even have one yourself. For more information about this watch, go to Wikipedia and search for "terrorist watch".

PS The real terrorists are in the White House. But you knew that already.

WE

[thundersquad1]

not so much. The casio watch is a cultural icon in the west. A conversation of terrorists that mention a watch that is so common in the west, mockingly, is not beyond the realm of their sick ideology.

[number154]

Casio watches are a cultural icon in the west? I must have missed the memo, When I hear Casio I think "crappy calculator".

[fuchalo]

911 was an inside job!!!

[Albukhshi]

if you mean to say that they used casio watches for their schemes, then I guess so :P

[tobid3]

LOL this is hilarious

[mongobobo]

Yeah, I thought that was one of the most bizarre product placement ads I've ever seen.

[DStecks]

It sort of seems like the executives told the writers tehy had to reference casio watches, but the writers decided to give 'em the finger.

[KingTharg]

yea, that sounds about right, oh well, it was good for a laugh

[jedaaa]

i get what your saying but perhaps you could have found a better clip to make your point. but hay

[noraklagrangian]

Casio didn't pay those people. Very many terrorists use Casios not because they're special in any way but because they are widely available, cheap, and reliable. Many also come with many functions that may be useful, such as countdown timer, alarm, and compass.

[mstock626]

Too funny. I guess General Mills didn't get into the mix....watch Part II, Section 15, where the guy on United 93's wife is definitely NOT holding a box of "Cheerios"! Somehow that they couldn't get a real box of Cheerios just kind of jarred me.

[dreambig]

From someone who does Product integration for a living. That does not look like it was paid for. It may be but doesn't look like it. Consider this: What company would pay say $300,000 to $750,000 to have some stupid actor playing a terrorist say Casio once, while not even showing the product. Not likely. But media companies pay for stupid things all the time.

[mirroredshoes]

anyone want to sell the backs of their eyelids??? have a coke and a blink.

[w0lfkilla]

Just coz Colbert did the same joke after you doesn't PROVE that they ripped it off you. Possible though

[MangaGothic]

Ever heard of sarcasm, which was what this video entery was? geez, some people are so sensitive.

Of course he knew it wasn't product placement.

[ziedariana]

I have just checked the book's date of publishing it was October 99 (after the embassy bombings) but before the USS Cole assault. My apologies as I read this book years ago.

[ziedariana]

Yousef relied on casio watches for his experiments. Casio watches are everywhere in Asia and Africa. Casio watches were found in the burnt down Manila apartment. An old book was published before 911 called "The New Jackals" it details the life of Ramzi Youssef as a terrorist, the 93 bombing and his capture. Since the book was published before 911 and the embassy bombings, Bin Ladin was not the main focus. There is however at least one chapter about bin ladin as I recall.

[Spargo]

You're kidding right? You think Casio payed to be the watch terrorists used to detonate bombs? Yeah! I want an innocent killer watch!

Hey Bill that is one fantastic watch! What kind is it?

Oh its the new Casio DEATHTOTHEINFADELS! model!

-Spargo

[CKMS]

i swear that's tariq off eastenders...

[Jabulon88]

this makes me soo mad. what the hell is going on? why arent anybody stopping these guys?

[jdeuel3868]

Umm thats not product placement... if it was they wouldn't make a joke about the watch. They would have said "I'll use this fine Casio watch!" and then they other guy would say "That is a fine Casio watch!" not laugh at it... I mean come on!!!

[jacobsdad32003]

Dont agree.

[Tenamaxtli098]

Maybe it's Casio's competition who paid ABC to have it on the terrorist. LOL.

But seriously, advertising is too much on regular tv.

[shindoltj]

i'm sure if you're making a video about product placement in a documentary you could do much better than this.

especially if it's a big problem in this documentary.  i know i wouldn't want my watches endorsed by terrorists, maybe a competitor paid? < /sarcasm >

nice research, gt95stang

[musicfilmarts]

Nice work. Thanks.

[NihilistZealot]

This is either a tasteless advertisment, or the opposite, do you want the watch that terrorists wear?

[gt95stang]

This scene is simply a reflection of the available documented evidence. A quick Google of "Yousef Casio" will provide a variety of sources for this evidence.

Example: In the 1996 trial of Ramzi Yousef, a prosecutor described how a Casio attached to a timing device using 9-volt batteries became the "calling card" of Yousef's Philippines-based terror cell.

[spppring]

I saw the evidence concerning the Casio parts usage, but tried in vain to google a "best watch on the earth" reference. I thought it might have been an old Casio advertising slogan that was being mocked, but didn't see it on any site that archives ad slogans or Casio's own site. It would be very interesting to get to the bottom of THAT mystery.

[tainted87]

@ alec - but how would anyone know what to buy - we would all i dont know save money or something.

funny clip

[mongobobo]

I think his point was about excessive advertising like product placement. I mean, do we really need McDonalds ads plastered all over the place? Does any ever wake up in this country and forget that McDonalds is still around?

[chaguanas]

Talking about the pot calling the kettle black: this clip is a product-placement for TIVO.

[LiberalViewer]

chaguanas,

Yes, I put that in for irony (as I mentioned in the comments on another video). Also, full disclosure, my wife and I invested in a couple thosand dollars worth of TiVo stock (and Google stock for whenever I mention googling ;)

Actually, the intro slide show is product placement for THREE products. You forgot the VCR and the ABC TV Show :-)

Thx 4 comment

[kerrywsmyth]

lol, good one!

[alecsputnik]

can you imagine how much cheaper everything would be, if companies didn't waste money on advertising?

[7774984]

talk about crazy. when i see things like this i worry about the fate of our tv shows...i can imagine that other competitors trying to sell their products would feel threatened and pull out their wallets.

[DaCoach68]

Whoa, LV, you got them riled up with this one! I think some Bush supporters are WAY tooo literal!

[enestesio]

The Casio reference looks sarcastic (otherwise Rolex would have gotten a plug) ... I, too, am glad not to have seen ABC Entertainment's concoction. Fictionalizing 9/11 is disrespectful, and does a disservice to everyone. And my wife would have slept through it, too.

[LiberalViewer]

enestesio,

And we only made it thru another hour last night before she fell asleep again. To be fair, our TV watching starts pretty late on weeknnights, after our daughter goes to bed, and my wife works pretty long days.

So far, tho, I think it's not that bad. Not that good either, tho ;)

Thx 4 comment :-)

[enestesio]

Best regards.

[mongobobo]

I thought it was very well scripted and shot. The cinemetography was very stylish and the editing was top notch. Of course, if there are fallacies in the material that is not good. But as far as good television, two thumbs up for me.

[enestesio]

Good television is fine, but so much easier to watch when it doesn't toy with our accepted notions of integrity, decency, honesty ... Mr. Cheney, Mr. Gonzalez, the Roberts court's contentious decisions: these people and those of their ilk put "the world's leading democracy" in a delicate position when they appear to act more in their own self-interest than in the interest of the common good.

[merrykite]

wow! is that real? i am so glad i killed my tv!!! they definitely paid for that!

oddly i feel i need to buy a watch now...later!

[spppring]

Stephen Colbert called it product placement and wished Casio well LOL. Take a look from 9/11 Colbert Report.  I can't seem to post the link here but it's called Colbert Examines ABC's 9/11 Special.

[MagicBaboon]

There was a new episode of the Colbert Report tonight?

SHIT.

[LiberalViewer]

spppring,

I just saw the Colbert segment and they used the exact clip I did. Great minds think alike? Maybe that should be today's video...

Thx 4 comment and the pointer to the Colbert clip :-)

[nymersic]

What's the deal anyway? It looks like the terrorists are mocking America's products - understandable. If it was meant as a serious advertisement, then so what? Companies have always paid to have their crap advertised in movies and on tv. (Coke, pepsi anyone?)

It was either displaying a joke that one terrorist made, or it was a common bit of business.

I've seen LiberalViewer pull some bullshit editing of clips before, and he might have now, but I dont even see what he's trying to claim here.

[LiberalViewer]

nymersic,

I thought the clip was funny. I almost REALLY thought it was product placement, but then thought there's no way that Casio would pay to be endorsed by (semi-fictional) terrorists. Is there?

So, I found the clip itself funny and I found my uncertainty over whether it was product placement funny. Maybe it's just my sense of humor, but that was the only point. No big deal

Thx 4 comment :-)

[TheDailyBackground]

Hahaha, wow.

I dunno though, I wouldn't be surprised if Casio paid something. Mentioning brand names in films/tv shows just isn't done without payment in almost all cases. Any mention of a brand name (no matter what the context) is seen as a positive thing I think.

[Urgelt]

No TV here, so if they screwed up with lies and spin, I'll find out from you!

This is the problem with docu-dramas: terrorists as imagined by Rush Limbaugh and his ilk can bear little resemblance to the real article.

If you do not understand your opponent, you cannot defeat him.

[KCKenya]

Is it wrong of me to say that I'm glad i didn't watch it? And that this clip just proves what i suspected? i hope not.

[LiberalViewer]

KCKenya,

I still haven't watched the whole first installment. My wife was falling asleep so we left it on the DVR for later. The bar scene from which I took this clip was in the first hour and reminded me a lot of the great JJ Abrams' show "Alias" (except not as good).

Still don't have a final opinion on the show.

Thx 4 comment :-)

[bobby7321]

thank you! just more proof that liberalism is a disease that takes over all common sense and replaces it with stupid conspiracy theories.

[LiberalViewer]

bobby,

What "stupid conspiracy theories" are you talking about?

You don't seem to know the meaning of the word "liberal." Check out the URL of the Onelook dictionary page on my YouTube profile.

Hope that helps

thx 4 comment :-)

[bioforte]

I'm sure the islamic jihad would agree with you. As would your leaders whom you seem ready to follow blindly into oblivion. Funny how they would have that in common hey. YOU'RE A FUCKING IDIOT. But your head looks good buried in the sand.

[bioforte]

The above is for bobby(good example of why the rest of the world hates America)7321

[soulweaponry]

"casio, best watch on earth"

That can't be real. Those have to be subtitles falsely added later on by a moron with too much time on his hands, because if this was real then the world really is coming to an end. "the best watch on earth" in the middle of a serious segment on a serios tv show? Come on! That takes away from the depth of the show as a whole.

[LiberalViewer]

soulweaponry,

The clip is ABSOLUTELY REAL taken from the Sept 10th show. My specualtion that casio paid for the endorsement is a joke (I hope?)

Thx 4 comment

[soulweaponry]

Unreal. Seriously. Things like this sound like something a schizophrenic conspiracy theorist would take about on the street to other crazy homeless people. Sometimes i question whether this is reality or just a nightmare created by politicians. I rated this video a 5. As always, your contribution is very much appreciated.

[Lauuraxx]

Wow.. thats pathetic. LMAO.