Product Placement: Surgical Edition
By Katie Earley, Copywriter
I had a very surreal moment while watching the Grey’s Anatomy finale last week, and it wasn’t just ***SPOILER ALERT*** the crazy drama of having two main characters coding at the final second. No, what might have surprised me the most was when, in an attempt to keep Dr. Bailey as a general surgeon (and not lose her to pediatrics), the Chief shows her this:
The surreal moment hinged on two things:
1. I recognized the machine. It’s the da Vinci Surgical System which I’ve been researching for a client’s website. Science is not my strong suit so I was proud of myself for properly identifying a high-tech piece of surgical equipment.
2. I had never thought of Grey’s as a place for surgical product placement.
I had to laugh as Bailey and the Chief talked about the capabilities of the da Vinci System, all familiar to me, and how I felt as if they were trying to sell it. And of course if you go to the da Vinci website, their big headline right now is “From Seattle Grace to a real hospital near you.”
Wondering where that real hospital near you is? For Louisville, it’s Jewish Hospital, who picked up on the plug and mentioned it on their Twitter.
At first, I was taken aback by this rare form of product placement. I tend to expect these kinds of plugs to be for the car the movie hero drives or the cups the American Idol judges drink from, not expensive, high-tech hospital equipment. But I think this works.
I don’t know how many surgeons tune in every week, but millions of patients do. I expect several viewers will ask about this option when discussing treatment with their physician. If it’s their doctor who brings it up, the patient might feel more comfortable with it, having “seen it” before.
Despite seeming odd at first, this is a really creative marketing idea and I think it will see positive results.
da Vinci image: BNET
