Designated Survivor fans mock jarring Ford Fusion product placement
Designated Survivor, the new Kiefer Sutherland-led political drama co-broadcast by ABC in the US and Netflix outside of the US and Canada, has come under fire for a really on-the-chin product placement underlining all the latest features of the Ford Fusion.
The show tells the story of Kiefer Sutherland’s ‘designated survivor’, the US secretary of housing who becomes president after a bomb takes out much of the cabinet.
Last week, episode 18 came under fire for heavily featuring Ford in a 90 second sequence that showed two lead characters interacting with the Ford Fusion.
The car is shown extensively over multiple angles before the car’s digitised dashboard and smart features are all tinkered with by the agent. Viewers noticed, and even worse, complained about the placements. Especially Netflix viewers, some of whom argued that they pay their subscription to escape such clumsy attempts at advertising.
The incident was first picked up by AdNews. Following is some of the feedback from viewers, underlining the fine line advertisers have when intruding in beloved content.
Congrats to #DesignatedSurvivor for having the worst product placement I've ever seen. I actually thought they had cut to commercial.#Ford
— Ryan Nelson (@ryannel76) May 2, 2017
Watching last night's #DesignatedSurvivor and did I hallucinate or was that just the most blatant product placement ad for Ford EVER?
— M H (@hmgflyer) April 27, 2017
Lol nice @Ford advert in the latest @ABCDesignated #DesignatedSurvivor episode. Really inconspicuous #netflix
— Ritchie (@riiitch) April 29, 2017
Last week on #DesignatedSurvivor Ford had the worst product placement ever. This week? Ford's logo is missing on a van. Overcompensation!
— JaeDavis (@JaeDavis) May 4, 2017
No more #DesignatedSurvivor for me after that ford commercial you forcefed me @ABCDesignated !! Paying @netflix to NOT see commercials!
— Andreas Lilja (@and_lily) May 3, 2017
The #Ford commercial built *inside* #DesignatedSurvivor this week was obvious, obnoxious, & off-putting. Who comes up with this crap.
— Katie (@kpfpdx) May 1, 2017
#DesignatedSurvivor Gawd, I hope they fire whomever came up with the idiotic Ford PP. It honestly made me like the show less.
— JaeDavis (@JaeDavis) April 29, 2017
Oddest product placement ever on latest ep of #DesignatedSurvivor. Seems #ford has replaced keys with an app. Out of place, must be mega $$$
— Carol Irwin (@carirw) April 29, 2017
Really bad #Ford product placement in #DesignatedSurvivor Ep18. Could that be any more blatant? Not even linked to the story!
— Adam Chatfield (@achatfield) April 29, 2017
Dear @Ford, thanks to #DesignatedSurvivor, I know your remote start app takes too long, since it derailed a perfectly good episode's flow.
— Samantha Jandl (@jamsandl) April 29, 2017
The @Ford ad during #DesignatedSurvivor was cringeworthy. Would have been more subtle if the actors were holding a billboard
— John Loy (@johnwloy) April 29, 2017