Rihanna is a spokesperson for Totes Umbrellas and Gucci and has her own perfume coming out this summer. She’s still upset whenever she gets piles of cash for product placements in her videos, and says it makes her videos into “ad campaigns.” S.O.S., Rihanna’s first number one hit single from 2006, was used to make promotional videos for Nike and Agent Provocateur. The official music video featured a Nokia phone so prominently that it was banned briefly by MTV.
RIHANNA is fed up with music executives placing products into her music videos, because it transforms her work into “ad campaigns”.
The Umbrella hitmaker claims too many singers agree to show off gadgets or designer goods in their videos to boost the budget – and wants to see an end to the money-spinning marketing tactic.
She tells Britain’s NME, “I don’t like things to be so commercial. I hate product placement in my videos. Videos should just tell the story of the song.
“With product placement, it becomes this big ad campaign. I just don’t like that. Sometimes we have to (use products in music videos), for whatever political reason, but it’s never my first choice.”
Last week (ends04Apr10) reps at Kelly Rowland’s label Universal Motown sent a mass email to all major brands, urging bosses to place their products in her upcoming single’s video.
[From Contact Music]
It’s not “political” that there are products in Rihanna’s videos, it’s for money. That’s how the music industry is desperately trying to make up for the fact that they stupidly tried to fight technology instead of learning about it and embracing it. I understand what she’s saying about how she doesn’t want to make commercials out of her work, and she’s entitled to make music and try to keep her promotional activities separate. For instance we have ads here but it’s clear where they are. We don’t embed promotional messages in articles and we’re reluctant to take paid posts. (We haven’t done it yet, but I can’t rule it out. They would of course be clearly labeled as ads.) There are going to be people who call her a hypocrite, though, for promoting products but complaining about it when there’s crossover. Plus Rihanna should try and make sure that she’s not alienating the people who pay her bills, both the sponsors and her record label. This is a legitimate concern but that doesn’t mean she should mention it to the press.
Rihanna’s Gucci & Cover Girl ads, courtesy of Google Images.
Oh why not Rihanna?? Lady Gaga does it!!!!
Young and dumb and bitchy = celebrities biting the hands that feed them. As they get older, they are dumb and bitchy.
I don’t think she’s being hypocritical at all-nor do I think she’s biting the hand that feeds her.
She’s basically saying that it’s not right to do product placement in music videos-it’s the same thing as an actor saying they shouldn’t do them in movies.
Music videos can be made without product placement if the music sells well. Make a good product and the only product they have to sell is the music. But the music industry (and all industries) are about making money. So they go where the big money is: advertisements.
Oh please Ri Ri. You don’t seem to have a problem looking like a walking advertisement for fugly clothes and cockatoo hair. How else do you think your ra-tard music videos are financed?
I can get on board with her not liking the products in her videos.
But I’m guessing the label pays for the videos and pays her for the videos, and she doesn’t have anything in her contract prohibiting it, so…oh well. There are worse things in the world. If she’s that unhappy about it, she can switch labels or go independent.
She is right. When I watch a video, that is what I want to see, a video. I don’t pay attention to any name brand things that might be in the video.
Rihanna isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer.
I usually just don’t listen when she starts talking.
Welcome to the real world, Rhianna. Someone’s got to foot the bill for your videos and lifestyle. . .
I’m sure she could do videos and stuff without product placement, but she wouldn’t be making as much money and living the life she leads.
Sooooooo…is she going to end up being an “artiste” and start living a simpler, less designer life where it’s only about her music?
I know, I know. Sometimes we all need a little giggle to start the day! 😉
I’m betting we see Rhianna out and about next week wearing/holding or shopping for something ridiculously expensive…Oh what? That was paid for by nokia? gucci? cover girl? Shockee!
Oh for crying out loud they ARE ad campaigns! You dont want to have to get by on talent alone do you honey?
@Victoria
agreed, actually musicians( not pre fab pop stars)
make music videos without product placement.
i could give a list of actual artist that make videos sans placement, but i don’t like typing all that much.
for entertainers like herself, beyonce, gaga, that is EXACTLY how they make their money and without those ad placements, the record company machine could not pay for all of the marketing necessary to sell this music to the masses.
she would not be living her high cost life without it so she should not complain about it.
she is not a real musician and does not have the bloody right.
Unless anyone here knows the specifics of her contract with her label, my guess is she pays for the bulk of the video production cost & there is an additional section dealing with preapproved Her complaints may be legit, but not smart.
If you guys ever do paid posts, be sure to disclose that they are paid AND what you got for them, otherwise you’ll run afoul of the FTC’s blogging guidelines. Stupidly, those guidelines for disclosures only apply to bloggers, not print journalists. #LegalFail
Rihanna really doesn’t need to have product placement in her videos, she is a walking product on a daily basis. All you have to do is take a picture of her and there you have it advertisment in itself. But I can understand both sides of this situation.
I understand what she was trying to say, and I honestly don’t get why people seem to feel like they have to bash her every time she speaks. It’s like people read some bitchy tone into everything she says.
I thought the video for “Telephone” was disgusting, because it was so blatant. I understand that it comes up, and someone has to foot the bill for those videos, but that doesn’t mean she has to love it. And if there is an aspect of her job, one aspect, that she doesn’t love, that shouldn’t mean that she should walk away. I don’t love every damn thing about my job, either, and sometimes I have to do things I don’t agree with. C’est la vie.
I would give anything to have the meaningless and petty problems these celebs have, how tough their life must be if thats all they have to bitch about.
But she has no problem using children afflicted with leukemia like Jasmine for her own publicity? Pathetic! I can’t wait until people realize Rihanna has no talent whatsoever!
RiRi is one of the dumbest, pointless prefab pop tarts to come down the pike.
From the getgo she was a walking billboard for music as commerce and now she’s concerned about the commercialism in her videos. WTF!
From the start her pr team/handlers were pitching her songs to companies for licensing deals to make money for themselves and RiRi – and RiRi never complained about that blatant commercialism. She talks about her videos and songs as though she’s solely responsible for them. Check the song credits on her cds. It’s all done for her she’s just the face of the product. As an aside why does RiRi need to be doing Gucci and Covergirl that’s what models used to do until prefab pop tarts and their pr teams realized they could multiply their wealth by jumping into the product branding game. Funny, but what does any of this have to do with “music” – I’m sorry, we are talking about a music industry product not a real musician. Milk her for all she’s worth guys I can’t wait till this no-talent skank disappears. By the way, how is her latest cd (oops I mean industry written, produced, and created cd) actually doing? The videos that accompany the cd are a mishmash of disconnected images – they only tell a story in RiRi’s small delusional brain.
My extreme dislike (my New Year’s resolution was to try to stop using the word “hate”) for Rihanna knows no bounds. She went from pretty to sort of interesting to fugly to what the hell is that thing.
She puts the suck, in well, suck.
Not a big fan of product placement, but where she’s concerned the product is usually more interesting than she is.
All these bubble gum singers need to wake up and realize that real singers don’t go around parading fashion or showing us how much money they have by showing their duds
Does anyone really think the likes of her or Beyonce or JLo will give all that up? please! I bet one of them will be crying if she part ways from her $42K LV purse
Nowadays all you need is a pretty face, or to show some boob and the record industry will make you a pop sensation-no talent required.
Huh.
She must have borrowed that hoop thingy from Kim-K’s “farty for the party” perfume ad.
riri has done nothing wrong by saying what she wants and besides she is talented coz this is her 4 yrs and her music is very popular.i dont want you to forget the fact that she has a unique voice and started very young and unlike beyonce without the guideline of parents.
I agree with number four. The dumb bitch doesnt know what she has!