Covert Advertising in the global business world: a thematic analysis of product placement in Amazing Spider Man 1 and 2 movies

Abstract

Covert advertising is a marketing communication tool which allows the advertiser to communicate a salient message to the audience. It provides an opportunity to develop an ongoing relationship between a consumer and a brand. This study examined the use of covert advertising and its socio-cultural implications for post-2015 development agenda, using Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2 as examples. This paper focused on the usage of contents and patterns of covert advertising, in the Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2. A mixed method of content analysis and ethnographic observations were employed in the paper in order to achieve the objectives of the study. The results revealed that the use of language for product placement was geared towards lexico-semantics. In doing so, consumers are able to associate positive qualities to the product in the way it was portrayed in the movies. For instance, speed and efficiency for the automobile category. Covert advertising is a growing force in the African movie industry and advertisers can make use of this advertising technique for the promotion of brands and marketing management.