Bulgari Connection
“...white gold and pavé diamonds, cold metal intricately, beautifully
worked, lain heavily against the cool, moist flesh of wrist and throat”.
This is not a line from a jewellery advertisement, but from Fay Weldon’s
novel, ‘Bulgari Connection”. The novel is also an advertisement and the
copy was written by Weldon, paid for by Bulgari, the jewellery and watch
maker. It is claimed that she had to use the brand name Bulgari at least
twelve times in the story, and she was paid £ 18,000 for doing it.
There were many comments on the book, as probably the first attempt
by a popular novelist to use her skills to promote a commodity in the
guise of a novel. It could be that Weldon had copywriting too in her
blood, at least she had the exposure and experience at Ogilvy and Mather
(advertising agency).
Letty Cottin Pogrebin, president of the Authors Guild, had called it
the “billboarding of the novel”, and one blogger used the term
“Vulgari”.
The danger here for the literary world is that even Weldon’s agent,
Giles Gordon, had said that he loved the idea. “Does it matter if you
are paid by a publisher or paid by an Italian jewelry firm?” he said. He
added that he would recommend product placements to other clients, too.
The current crop of “chick lit” novels and memoirs about the lives of
young women offers potential for touting vodka, cigarettes, clothing and
other brands, he said. “The sky is the limit.”
Before Weldon’s book came out in 2001, the novel had remained
unsullied by advertising, except perhaps for ‘Power City’. Beth Ann
Herman had received a $15,000 party at the Wilshire Maserati dealership
in Beverly Hills for her new novel about the ‘’sizzling, unforgiving
world’’ of Hollywood public relations, she featured a Maserati whose
‘’V-6 engine had two turbochargers, 185 horsepower and got up to 60 in
under 7 seconds.’’ Randall Rothenberg also claims that “She also won a
window display of her book from Giorgio, the luxury-goods shop in
Beverly Hills, for mentioning the store as one of the ‘’opulent
temptations of Rodeo Drive.’’ (New York Times Jan 13, 1989).
Before Herman, there had been other writers. There were allegations
that Jules Verne had been paid by shipping companies to get their brands
embedded in ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’ which was serialized in
1873. Melanie Lynne Hauser had used a Proctor & Gamble housecleaning
product in her Super Mom series, just because she needed to mention a
known brand, which had prompted P&G to promote her series.
Hemingway had used brand advertising for self-promotion. He had
appeared in an advertisement for Ballantine Ale, for Pan American
Airlines and even for Parker 51. “Great success is not possible without
a certain degree of shamelessness, and even of out-and-out
charlatanism.” Marie-henri Beyle (Stendhal) had said. Herodotus had paid
for his own book tour in 440 B.C. Tony Perrottet quotes from Balzac
“that it was standard practice in Paris to bribe editors and critics
with cash and lavish dinners to secure review space, while the city was
plastered with loud posters advertising new releases. In 1887, Guy de
Maupassant sent up a hot-air balloon over the Seine with the name of his
latest short story, “Le Horla,” painted on its side. In 1884, Maurice
Barrès hired men to wear sandwich boards promoting his literary review,
Les Taches d’Encre. In 1932, Colette created her own line of cosmetics
sold through a Paris store.” (New York Times 29/4/2011)
It is a very common practice today to use ‘embedded marketing’ or
‘branded entertainment’ in television programs and tele-dramas, where
the helpless viewer cannot escape the propaganda. It had begun in the
days of the silent films, with a Hershey’s chocolate in the film ‘Wings’
(1927) and Wrigley’s chewing gum in the film ‘M’ (1932).
‘Soap Opera’ came to stay with us as soap makers P&G, Levers and
Colgate began sponsoring radio plays, even long before the arrival of
television. Today the ‘soap opera’ is replaced by ‘reality shows’.
How long could the novel survive, without been taken over by big
business and their advertising organizations? How long would it be
before literary agents would have to go after advertising agencies to
get a publishing contract for their authors?
Herodotus to Weldon they were all using their creativity to write
what they wanted, and once written they had to find readers for their
works. They had to build up an awareness about their works and also an
image about themselves. Some of them also wanted to earn a living. Who
could judge their actions and decide if it was right or wrong?
In Europe and in the Asian countries the artists, poets and writers
had royal patronage, or the support of the church or big merchant
families. No one criticized them for that. King Saul was a patron of the
arts who commissioned certain songs from the lyre of David, and David
himself became a patron of the arts during his long reign as king.
There is a bright side too, to this development. This could boost
book sales, revive the reading habit as its side effect. Copywriting too
needs creativity, the ability to empathize with the targeted consumers.
They have to create attractive, catchy, precise dialogue for their
television advertisements, create story lines that could reach the
consumer and forceful enough to develop brand loyalty for their clients.
These copywriters could have an opportunity to write novels and short
stories, while novelists turn to copywriting through their novels. The
two professions could merge.
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