Knight Rider [Pilot; a.k.a. Knight of the Phoenix] (1) - S1-E1
Question: At one point, after promising help, Michael parks, and goes to a pay phone to call Devon. As he gets to the booth, over his left shoulder, there is a badly altered Pepsi sign. Black tape has been put over the word 'PEPSI' in the familiar logo, and also over the "si" in the phrase 'say Pepsi please'. What type of mistake would this be?
Answer: It wouldn't be a mistake. Anyone could have taped the sign for a number of reasons.
No Big Thing - S1-E8
Question: In this episode, in an aerial view of KITT travelling before meeting the semi, KITT is passing a parked car that seems to be one of the other cars used as the stand-in for the 'hero car'. Would that be any sort of error? (00:23:35)
Answer: I would say that unless there's visual evidence it was another K.I.T.T. car, as in you could see the bar scanner or cut steering wheel, people on here would correct the mistake by saying more than one 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am was sold and there's no reason it's meant to be a random car.
Chosen answer: Before "product placement" became common, name-brand products were rarely, if ever seen in TV shows, mostly due to avoid advertising conflicts with program sponsors. The Pepsi logo may have been taped out to prevent any commercial infringements.
raywest ★
Are you kidding? Product placement was so rampant in the 50s that sometimes you'd wonder if you were watching a TV show or a paid ad.
Brian Katcher
Knight Rider wasn't produced in the 1950s. TV shows of that era had advertising more similar to the old radio shows from the 30s and 40s. The early 50s series often had a sole sponsor, so their product (and related items) was likely seen in a program. An announcer also informed the audience at the beginning that, "This program is brought to you by (insert brand name). " From the 60s on, brand-name products weren't generally seen in TV programs. Networks sold air time to multiple advertisers, and their ads were shown during the long commercial breaks. So no, I'm not kidding.
raywest ★