\n<\/p>\n
A<\/span>fter a long day, it\u2019s nice to put on some sweats, pour yourself a glass of wine, turn on the TV and cozy up to an advertisement for Est\u00e9e Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex.<\/p>\n Or at least that\u2019s what I found myself doing on Sunday night, when I returned for season two of Netflix\u2019s Nobody Wants This. In the series, Adam Brody plays the so-called \u201chot rabbi\u201d and love interest of Kristen Bell\u2019s character, an atheist podcaster considering conversion. Together, the pair navigate cultural differences and disapproving family members. Or at least I assume that\u2019s what happened \u2013 I was too distracted by all the product placement to focus on the plot.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a quick summary of the first five episodes of season two, with, technically, some spoilers. The two lovers get coffee and doughnuts from Dunkin\u2019. Brody\u2019s Noah gives Bell\u2019s Joanne a gold Jennifer Meyer necklace. Joanne\u2019s sister (Justine Lupe) calls the family \u201cDoorDash people\u201d and eats her \u201cfavorite snack\u201d of Flamin\u2019 Hot Cheetos by a pool. The couple goes to a pasta making class, which the chef reminds them was booked through an Airbnb experience. Something happens in a bathroom. I don\u2019t know what, other than there was an extended money shot of the aforementioned Est\u00e9e Lauder serum.<\/p>\n <\/span>Justine Lupe appears with an Est\u00e9e Lauder product in Nobody Wants This.<\/span> Photograph: Netflix<\/p>\n And, oh yes, there is gossip and intrigue and life lessons learned along the way. Sadly, all I retained was the incredibly un-subliminal message that I should order takeout and buy some skincare. The medium is the message, indeed.<\/p>\n I took my qualms to Reddit: had the show really become sponcon slop? I was not alone in this assessment. \u201cThe number of product placements this season is hilarious to the point that it\u2019s basically a giant infomercial,\u201d one user posted. \u201cIt\u2019s literally like they wrote the scene around the products,\u201d another wrote. \u201cIt\u2019s almost like a parody of product placement in movies, but it\u2019s not, and that\u2019s a huge bummer,\u201d another opined.<\/p>\n <\/span>Adam Brody (left) and Kristen Bell hold Dunkin\u2019 Donuts products in Nobody Wants This.<\/span> Photograph: Netflix<\/p>\n I understand that it\u2019s hard to make films and TV today, even if you\u2019re Netflix (the company is doing well but nothing is certain in the volatile streaming market). I am a lifetime Los Angeles romanticist, and I\u2019m troubled by the fact that Hollywood has entered a slow death spiral. Filming in town is at a historic low, with productions fleeing to Atlanta or New York or the UK or Australia to save on costs. So many releases these days are big-budget franchises or spin-offs, rather than the types of character-driven romcoms that I and so many others love. Nobody Wants This, shot in LA, was an exception to all that: smart, funny and disarmingly charming. So what if Netflix solicited a little financial boost from our benevolent corporate overlords?<\/p>\n It would be naive to turn to television as an escape from the capitalist hellhole that is my phone\u2019s endless scroll of thinly veiled #ads and influencer brand collaborations. From the early days of the first soaps (called that as they were sponsored by personal hygiene brands), TV existed to both entertain and sell stuff. Yet the nonstop hawking in Nobody Wants This feels particularly egregious. Sure, I\u2019ll buy that Joanne, a privileged and slightly vapid podcaster, would be a brand snob who totes a yuppy-ish Clare V handbag and stocks her refrigerator with Spindrift seltzers. But in its best moments, the show encourages us to reflect on our own belief system: how it came to be, and how it might change with time. That introspection becomes difficult when your eye is being pulled to the bottle of Seventh Generation disinfectant spray (available at Target) in the frame.<\/p>\n <\/span>Justine Lupe eats Flamin\u2019 Hot Cheetos in Nobody Wants This.<\/span> Photograph: Netflix<\/p>\n Netflix has long promoted brands during its shows. But the company swears it\u2019s not their<\/em> idea. Netflix, which did not respond to my request for comment, told the New York Times in 2019 that \u201cmost of the brands that appear in shows and movies are added by creators who believe they add to the authenticity of the story\u201d, and that such placements were \u201crare and not a business focus\u201d at the time.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Our US morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what\u2019s happening and why it matters<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.<\/span><\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n That\u2019s a little hard to believe. One early Netflix success story, House of Cards, ran from 2013 to 2018. Its product placements (BlackBerry, Sony, Cartier) fit into the world of the show \u2013 mostly. At one point, the lead character Frank Underwood, then a US House of Representatives majority whip, asked one of his colleagues about his PlayStation Vita. \u201cI oughta get one of these for the car,\u201d he said, before the episode cut to credits.<\/p>\n <\/span>Kristen Bell wears a Fly By Jing chili crisp-branded sweatshirt in Nobody Wants This.<\/span> Photograph: Netflix<\/p>\n Netflix\u2019s Stranger Things, set in the 1980s, prominently featured products from that era, leading to a modern-day boon for brands such as Coca-Cola, Eggo, Cadillac, Schwinn, Nike and Burger King. In 2019, CBS News reported that the total advertising value for the more than 100 brands that appeared in the series was estimated to hit over $15m in the first three days of season three streaming.<\/p>\n Last year, the Daily Mail found that Emily in Paris, a bubblegum dramedy starring Lily Collins, plugged 37 brands throughout 10 episodes. Some you might expect for a show about an American who moves to Paris, which Sex and the City\u2019s costume designer consulted on: Chanel, Dior, Herm\u00e8s. But not every sponsor was as chic: Starbucks, Apple and \u2013 mon dieu<\/em>! \u2013 McDonald\u2019s.<\/p>\n Maybe I\u2019ll finish Nobody Wants This tonight. Or maybe I\u2019ll go watch five straight hours of car commercials on YouTube; I\u2019m not sure there\u2019s much of a difference at this point. Netflix executives, if you see this, maybe cut back on the product placement. You said it yourself \u2013 nobody wants this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After a long day, it\u2019s nice to put on some sweats, pour yourself a glass of wine, turn on the TV and cozy up to an advertisement for Est\u00e9e Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex. 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