Once upon a time, an insane Christian book that claimed the devil created football as a tool to destroy humanity trended on the internet. I did the dirty work of actually reading and recapping it. The article was so popular that I decided to make my recaps into a weekly series named “So You Don’t Have To “, where I find batshit crazy pieces of media (books, movies, etc.) and recap them for your pleasure.
Today, I’ll be taking a look at the product placement in the Netflix series, “Smart Money Woman.”
All I can see in this picture is Toni Tones’ SNATCHED waist.
My original plan was to do a “So You Don’t Have To” recap of this but after watching three episodes, something else caught my attention. The product placement on the show.
“Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent.“
Nollywood isn’t great at product placement. I still have nightmares about the super obvious product placement in “Namaste Wahala,” and that one scene from Rattlesnake (2020) where Norbert Young’s character talks about how Amstel Malta zero is good for his blood sugar.
Yes, Nollywood throws subtlety out the window when it comes to product placement. But you see “Smart Money Woman”? This show hit a whole other level of not giving a shit. The characters practically stop mid-scene to do mini-informercials for different brands. It’s wild, it’s violent, and it’s fucking hilarious. That’s why I’ve decided to talk about some of them today.
This shot of Virgin Atlantic’s logo
This happened in the first few seconds of the show’s first episode. Production didn’t waste time at all.
This shot of Tami (Ini Dima Okojie) in front of Privé restaurant.
She stands here for the duration of her call with Zuri and the wide shot just looks funny. Like the restaurant’s exterior wasn’t enough, they had her hold two takeout bags with the logos on them. Get your money’s worth, Privé.
This weird Toke Makinwa product placement.
What even was this? This isn’t just a regular cameo because the characters acknowledge that she, in the show’s universe, is Toke Makinwa and then have a quick conversation about how no one should question how she makes a living because it’s none of their business. The first and only case of human product placement I’ve ever seen.
The scene where Zuri (Osas Ighodaro) talks to her account manager on the phone.
Like a radio jingle, the account manager pretty much lists out all the features of First Bank’s mobile app in a way that you know is more for the benefit of the audience than it is for the character she’s sharing a scene with. They even throw in a scroll screen of First Bank’s website.
The monologue was enough though.
The scene where Zuri and Tami are on a phone call doing their makeup.
In this scene, Zuri is sitting in front of her mirror, about to do her makeup. There’s a House of Tara makeup bag set up in front of her in a way that the audience can see it properly. She gets a call from Tami and when the camera cuts to Tami, Tami is getting her makeup done by a House of Tara makeup artist, wearing a House of Tara t-shirt.
This is product placement inception.
This one for Chloe’s Gourmet Popcorn.
You know what? This worked on me. I now want to eat this popcorn.
This scene.
Yay, Green Apron.
The scene where Zuri and Tami do skincare.
In this scene, Zuri and Tami are seated on the ground in front of a coffee table and Zuri just starts serving YouTube skincare influencer realness out of nowhere by talking about all the YouSkin products in front of them. The look Tami has on her face through all this mirrored mine.
“Girl, what is this?”
This scene where two characters just pause proceedings to discuss Business Day newspaper.
Shakespeare had nothing on this sponsored monologue.
Another one for First Bank.
This one for Polo Avenue.
Do people just sit around discussing how great a boutique is?
I’m not saying filmmakers shouldn’t do product placement oh. This movie business is expensive and I support getting your cash any way you can. But can you guys be subtle about it? Just a little bit? Please??
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