Ted Lasso: Product Placement

If there’s one thing that the hit AppleTV show Ted Lasso is good at, aside from optimistic moments and impeccably timed locker-room pep talks, it’s combining real life brands into its fictional world. From the widely popular Nike branded AFC Richmond kits worn by the team and fans to the subtle placement of Apple products, the consistent placement in the series feels more natural and less in-your-face. With the addition of companies and products, we see how the show turns these into economic realities and purposeful inclusion.Throughout the series we witness the subtle marketing tactic that helped Ted Lasso turn into a cultural phenomenon. 

We begin the series learning about Ted Lasso, former American football coach, who moves to England whenever he gets hired to manage a British football team. The team that employs him is part of the Premier League, and is called AFC Richmond, which mimics real-life team Crystal Palace F.C.. In 2022, after the Premier League and Apple came to a $680,000 licensing agreement they decided that Nike would replace the fictional sports brand sponsor, Verani Sports, and be the supplier for the AFC kits. Succeeding this, Nike announced via Twitter that they would be sponsoring the fictional team, sparking a large amount of positive reactions within the social media platform. As the current sponsor for current Premier League clubs such as Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham, this wasn’t necessarily “off-brand” for Nike and may have assisted in promoting the series further. The addition of Nike to the series created a more authentic feel to the show, replicating how the real Premier League clubs operate and appear. Although the Nike kits weren’t incorporated within the series until season three, their products made appearances in the beginning seasons as well. In season two, episode twelve, Inverting the Pyramid of Success, Lasso is seen sporting Nike Air Jordans while the team is still wearing the Verani Sports sponsored kits. 

Strategically including various brands and products in television isn’t a new concept, and we learn from Sandler’s essay that product placement, product integration and branded entertainment are all popular “form[s] of advertising in which a product, corporate logo…is used as an integral part of the storyline”, (p.g. 270). Throughout the series as a whole, there is various product placement in each episode with Apple being the most prominent and consistent one. With Ted Lasso being an AppleTV original series, it was inevitable that Apple would strategically integrate their products with the hopes of increasing revenue and brand loyalty from viewers. They include their products in various ways, from the simplicity of characters wearing Apple Watches or AirPods to specifically using Macbooks or iPhones to communicate. This promotes positivity about the brand, attempting to attract more buyers for what is being shown to the viewer. The act of product integration is straight from Apple’s playbook as they have been incorporating their brand and products into television for decades. The company seems to jump at the opportunity to advertise for themselves, which is why they “need not have paid for the iPad placement [in Modern Family] because the internalized logic of commercial television is to promote consumerism, turn audiences into commodities, and celebrate a product as a vital component of ‘realism.’”, (Sandler, p.g. 276). Placing their products into a show they are already producing just adds to the consumeristic aspect of wanting to turn their audience into a commodity, as they are already subscribers to the company’s streaming service. 

As we progress further through the series, specifically in season three, there is a noticeable increase of Nike products in the episodes, understandably so after the licensing agreement to have Nike as a kit sponsor. The Nike swoosh becomes a prominent part of the show’s visual identity, reflecting the optimism that Ted Lasso himself has, and Nike’s popular slogan “Just Do It”. The AFC Richmond kit was designed with their signature colors, blue and red, with the addition of Nike’s signature swoosh to complete it. Overall the aspirational tone of the show strongly backs the branding that Nike strives to have, and promotes teamwork, togetherness, and resilience throughout the episodes. Unlike most situations that include product placement in television this integration feels natural instead of unnecessary or intrusive, using character wardrobe, gear, and set details to create a feeling of realism that resembles the Premier League. 

Though being the most consistent and prominent, Nike and Apple are not the only brands that make an appearance in the series. NewBalance, Nissan, Puma and Etihad all appear in scenes from the episode Mom City, either in the background as stadium advertisements, or on the character’s person. This episode revolves around the impending game of AFC Richmond and Manchester city, and similar to all other episodes, contains avid product placement. Although there is consistent placement of brands and products into the foreground and background of the episode, it never solely interrupts what is occurring. During the game, Lasso is pictured sitting on the sidelines in Nissan branded chairs while everyone is sporting either Nike or NewBalances shoes. In a typical sports setting this is nothing out of the ordinary as many coaches can be seen wearing popular brands for clothing or footwear. This also applies to the background advertisements, which is standard for sports arenas or venues as a way to showcase the name of brands or companies that support the team through sponsorships. How they choose to subtly advertise various brands through the series is still on-par with how sports teams appear, while still tying it into television and making it realistic.

It should also be noted that the addition of other brands being featured through footwear on Ted Lasso’s person derives from his own personal collection and choices. After an interview with People Magazine, Lasso’s actor Jason Sudeikis spoke about his large collection of sneakers and how he chooses to wear them on set. He claims that doing so is ‘“just for continuity purposes,’ he added.” (McCoy, 2023), and doing so is noticeable across all three seasons based on the consistent branded footwear he sports. As previously mentioned, Lasso is seen sporting various sneakers, primarily Nike brand, that dates back to season one before the inclusion of the company in the show. Though this doesn’t have correlation to Apple and Premier League’s agreement for the kit sponsorship, it helps to convey the continuity of brand placement throughout the show as a whole. This allowed the addition of Nike to not appear out of place and continue the sport company branding that was noticed from the beginning. Similar to Modern Family, the inclusion of products occurred throughout the series and not only in some episodes, allowing the inclusion of specific products or brands to be more normalized. In Modern Family, they incorporate Apple products throughout the various episodes aside from the “Game Changer” episode, in the same way Ted Lasso includes Nike products. 

From sport brands to transportation companies, Ted Lasso includes various forms of product placement and integration throughout the series, while attempting to maintain a subtle feel. The overall combination of cheerful optimism and skillfully placed brands throughout the show create a sense of realistic advertising while still feeding into the ideals of consumerism. The product placement in Ted Lasso functions as more than just seeing the audience as a way to make money, but a way to form an authentic feel to the fictional world. With the careful execution of where to place branded products and how to dress the characters in branded outfits, nothing feels out of place or excessive in terms of in-your-face advertising. 

In the end, Ted Lasso merges real life products and companies with their fictional universe, allowing for consumer markets to be reached and keen advertisements to be placed into television. Including popular brands onto an already monopolized company’s platform allows for the possibility of brand loyalty and increase in sales. Being a show that gained such popularity, it was an astute choice to incorporate products that the companies may want marketed to a larger audience.