pendennis

I would imagine that movie/TV producers wouldn't be in the "free publicity" business. Any income that can offset the cost of production would be welcome. I think the impetus is from the advertiser. Coke and Pepsi, for instance, have had "ad wars" for years to gain product placement in movies.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

I always thought the product manufacturer paid the movie producers to use their product in the production. The exposure is quite wide and good for their business and it’s probably a lot less costly than a Super Bowl spot.

Stan

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

Generally it is the manufacturer who pays the TV show or movie for "product placement". Do you ever watch America's Got Talent? Which for some reason features a whole lot of acts from other countries, including some who have already won the "Got Talent" competition in their own country, although that is not mentioned. Seems odd and somewhat unfair, since they are supposed to be discovering undiscovered talent in America.... Oh well. I digress. AGT gets paid big bucks by whatever company provides the drinks in giant cups on the table in front of the judges. The cups prominently dipslay the name, and the judges frequently pick up the cups and have a sip, making sure that the name is facing the cameras. It is pretty silly.

In the past you had many TV series which would always feature a particular brand of automobile - ALL of the vehicles seen on the show might be Fords, for example.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

When Brainstorm was being filmed at RTP, NC, the production company called our Tektronix office and asked if we would “loan” them some instruments for the sets. We were glad to oblige, just to meet Natalie Wood. If I remember, they may have given us a mention in the credits at the end, but no money changed hands in either direction.

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Yes but sometimes the commercial has nothing to do with the manufacturer, they have to be careful the name brand doesn't show. If it's a commercial for under arm deodorant and someone is taking pictures, don't show the name brand of the camera!

Toby

Ever notice that when ever bottled drinks are shown the labels are always facing the camera

pj81156 Loc: St. Petersburg, FL

Kind of related. We watched two old Frank Sinatra movies recently. He was a private detective in one, a cop in the other. In both movies beer cans/bottles were shown—very visible Budweiser labels. Did Budweiser pay to have these shown?

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Yes and im sure the maker of those cans & bottles paid dearly to have their cans & bottles in the movie...that's something you don't see in the credits after the movie.