‘The Boys’ Season 4 Takes a Diabolical Turn After Showrunner Shamelessly Trolled Amazon Despite Being Employed By the Studio
Warning: Spoilers for The Boys Season 4!
Season 4 of The Boys was released on June 13, 2024. It is a successful TV series that has been nominated for several Emmy awards, and its fourth season was also well received by the viewers. But everything took a diabolical turn when its showrunner, Erin Kripke, shamelessly trolled Amazon.
Showrunner Erin Kripke is known for his humorous behavior and for sending a message back at trolls. But this time, the showrunner trolled his employer, Amazon. He not only denied something Amazon asked him to do but also made fun of it.
Erin Kripke and his Amazon troll
Erin Kripke and his team were asked to do a product placement in his show, where the product can digitally change depending on who is watching. But rather than doing a product placement, the showrunner denied it and casually trolled Amazon by making fun of it. In his X post, Erin Kripke wrote,
Y'know, custom digital product placement is a real thing, you guys. Amazon pitched it to us for #TheBoys, we said no thanks, but we're definitely making a joke about it in Season 4. Then we did. https://t.co/dEi8Vc3IXS pic.twitter.com/jGIemMZM9e
— Eric Kripke (@therealKripke) June 30, 2024
Fans had very mixed reactions to Kripke’s troll. Some laughed while others showed support for Amazon, as according to them, it makes sense for companies to choose the easy way out.
Not surprising given how easy it is to digitally add or take away things from images nowadays due to technology advancements so it makes sense for companies to do similar in their product placements
— JDM is the Shiz! (Scarface) (@FloatyRedHead23) June 30, 2024
The Boys said anyone can get it. Trolling their own network is nasty work lol 😂
— Ron Oliver (@RPOIII) June 30, 2024
This actual makes a ton of sense with how Amazon runs ads 😂
— Ethan Price (@Paradox_EP) June 30, 2024
IDK why people are surprised by this, personalized ads are already thing on like every single website on the internet.
— Froggy (@ZoieNolan) June 30, 2024
It makes sense that ads in movies and TV shows would become personalized one day as well.
Amazon pitched virtual ads for "The Boys," but the writers said, "Nah, we'll just make fun of you instead. pic.twitter.com/kkb5fegyor
— ً (@tylerduran21) July 1, 2024
Through digital product placement, brands can nowadays easily add in or take away any of their products from any running TV show. It is a better means to show products than ads, which otherwise take a very long time.
Kripke sourced an article from Marketing Brew in his tweet, which talks about how entertainment companies are eager to use virtual product placements, but it’s not an easy road.
Reason behind Erin Kripke’s Troll
According to The Wrap, the joke was in connection to the episode “Beware the Jabberwock, My Son.” In the episode, the company Vought brings in a new feature for its product, Vought+, which can change according to demographics such as ‘Race’.
The idea was built around the team, The Seven’s Black Members, which included both characters, A Train and Sister Sage, and as a result, both Black members and viewers of the show were not so happy with the concept.
The Boys is available on Amazon Prime.
