A collection of friends from Pottery Barn arrives

Back in 2000, friends made the Pottery Barn apothecary table – a dark wooden storage bench with a bunch of brass drawers – famous when she introduced it as the centerpiece of the episode aptly named "The Table with the Apothecary ". This month, Pottery Barn will read again piece in collaboration with Warner Bros. to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the premiere of the sitcom.

"[W]We brought back the table of the beloved apothecary (of yesteryear), "reads a temporary reminder page for the launch of the new online collection on July 30th. It is already on sale in Pottery Barn's current catalog for $ 1,099. (The apothecary's episode table costs Rachel $ 500.) "Can we be more excited?", Reads the catalog copy in cadence Chandler Bing.

"We are excited to partner with Warner Bros. to bring to life an inspired collection for FRIENDS fans, "said a Pottery Barn spokesperson in Vox in a joint release sent by email to Warner Bros. "The iconic Apothecary coffee table is just one of the items presented. in this special collection. "The other pieces remain under embargo until the end of the month but seem to have an embroidered tassel pillow."Welcome friends " in the recognizable font of the series for $ 49.50 and in the Central Perk mugs for $ 14.50.

The new version revives an old conversation about what is usually called product placement in movies and television (although the "product placement" suggests that money has changed hands, which is not not always the case – we'll talk about it later). This also raises a new question: does the upgraded product placement exist?

Five of the six main friends on friends Pronounce the words "Pottery Barn" a total of 18 times in the episode of the apothecary chart. "You got it from Pottery Barn?" Monica asks, bewildering, while Rachel looks at the pages of a store mail. "Yeah, it's an apothecary's table," said Rachel, but Monica knows something Rachel does not know: Phoebe refuses to shop in the store Rachel loves.

The apothecary table is not the only one among Pottery Barn 's 2000 era products to appear on the screen: there is something that is called a' '. Ornamental birdcage "and the" Sahara desk "and the" Parker console table ". Said Ross, "At your house This looks like page 72 in the catalog. "Later, Rachel and Phoebe stop in front of a shop window, the Pottery Barn logo stuck on the glass, before heading inland to buy a Pottery Barn lamp.

Specialists cite this episode as a reference model for product placement in entertainment. "This well-integrated brand reference is an excellent example of the proliferation of product placement, the practice of placing branded products in the content of mass media programming," writes Cristel Russell, professor of marketing at American University, product placement specialist. for the Journal of Consumer Research in 2002, adding that according to marketing resources in 2000, advertisers were paying $ 360 million a year to Hollywood studios to showcase their products.

But Pottery Barn maintained that no money was exchanging hands. The homeware retailer told BuzzFeed last year that Pottery Barn was not paying for its product to appear in the episode: "The table was given and we continue to talk about it. be grateful for the inclusion in this episode. "

The chief decorator Greg Grande, who worked as a decorator on friends for the complete series of 10 years of the series, confirms it. He regularly received offers of products from companies, "with the right to use them for free and not" Greek ", he adds, referring to the practice of artistic design consisting of replacing a text with a word devoid meaningless. At the height of the series, he told Vox, it was common for brands to give props and decorate their friendsostensibly in exchange for the visibility of their brands.

"Today's name recognition is different from that of the time," says Grande, a veteran of the entertainment industry for three decades. "At the time, the recognition of the name would probably just be the use of the product for free. Today, it is negotiated with a tax. "

Most often, he received food, drinks, wine, and "stereo" items. "The furniture does not really have the same value of recognition as the products on a shelf," he adds. "In this case, the apothecary table was definitely a" thing "" because Pottery Barn was so popular with Buddies & # 39; target audience already. Once the producers settled the problem, Pottery Barn gave Grande a carte blanche to shop at her Beverly Center store in Los Angeles, "and to prepare Phoebe's apartment as I chose. to do".

The apothecary table was not designed as an accessory to be incorporated into the script, says Grande, but on the page as a "point of history." The original plan and history that he received highlighted it well. It was then the task of Great and his team to find the right product. John Shaffner, production designer of the episode, said, "I remember the table and some discussions about it because it was exactly what we needed."

Pottery Barn and Warner Bros. refused to comment on the episode in question, as well as the nature of the relationships that companies have with their current and past collaborations with their products. (Last year, Pottery Barn Kids debuted Harry Potter-Bedroom inspired collection by Warner Bros.) However, earlier comments from the management of Pottery Barn and Warner Bros. refer to the nature of this relationship.

Patrick Connolly, then executive vice president and CMO of Williams-Sonoma Inc.'s parent company of Pottery Barn, told attendees at the 2004 catalog conference that the syndication of the episode of the apothecary table is "the gift who continues to do. Phones light up with catalog requests whenever it is broadcast. And the 2002 book Big Media, Big Money: Cultural Texts and Political Economy Peter Roth, then President of Warner Bros. Television, said the agreement had "offset high production costs."

Hollywood Branded, a content marketing platform, reports that 85% of users notice product placement on the screen and 57% buy products seen in movies and on television.

Pottery Barn

So, what happens when what we might consider a "product placement" is not a product placed in a show or movie intended to sell that product, but a product placed in a store for, perhaps, selling (or at least listing) an exhibition? or a movie? Can the new Pottery Barn apothecary table be considered a product placement from reverse engineering? Or is it just another example of a long-standing symbiotic relationship in the media and merchandising?

As Kaitlyn Tiffany notes for Vox, brands are increasingly linking their products to popular properties and their marketing is defying their first sales. The third season of Strange things is a recent example. Many 1980s products, such as New Coke, appear in the series – and could appear to be a product placement. But as Netflix told Vox, "None of the brands and products that appear in Strange things 3 have been paid or placed by third parties. They are all part of the Duffer brothers' narration, which refers to the consumer culture and popular culture of the 1980s. " The payment, in reality, is brand awareness. You are watching Eleven eating an Eggo waffle Strange things. Later, you can buy a box of Eggo waffles at the store.

Eggos and New Coke also help to tell the story of the time. They are both narrative tools and advertising tools. In the case of friendsRachel and Ross' pass-thons at Pottery Barn tell the story of Pottery Barn's omnipresence in the early 2000s. Entertainment Weekly magazine praised "the parody of the ubiquitous Pottery Barn, which almost gives the impression that its cumbersome catalogs of mailboxes are worth it ".

What's unique about friends and "The Table with the Apothecary" is that the episode's references to Pottery Barn are not always positive. Phoebe hates Pottery Barn – hate! Because she "hates everything that is mass produced". She wants her furniture "to have a story, a story behind it".

Pottery Barn, $ 1,099 friends Apothecary Table has, in a way, a story and a story: friends.

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