At Burning Man 2011, select participants were invited to an elaborate champagne dinner party, with food prepared by New York City chef Phil Winser of The Fat Radish. But who hosted the party, what was the reason for the dinner, and why were only certain participants invited? Well, the dinner was a marketing campaign for Krug. [more inside]
posted by mattdidthat on May 17, 2012 - 95 comments

Scott Kurtz draws and writes one of the Internet's oldest webcomics, PvP. He launched it in 1998 and, since then, has won two Eisner Awards and a Harvey Award for his work. Scott has been a trendsetter for webcomics before, infamously (and frequently controversially) brash in defense of its business model, especially in the face of criticism from old media. Today, he announced that he will be selling product placement in his strips, starting with an arc focused on Magic: The Gathering. This is a webcomics first. Will it prove a boon to the financial success of artists, or a burden on the freedoms they've won? Or will it catch on at all beyond PvP?
posted by gilrain on Jul 22, 2011 - 75 comments

A brief history of conspicuous product placement.
posted by Combustible Edison Lighthouse on Jan 10, 2011 - 125 comments

Remember the days of ACME products and cans that simply said BEER? Product placement in television and film is so commonplace that "product integration" is where the money is now. Some writers are getting very good at it while others wonder if it will be possible to survive without it.
posted by kyleg on Oct 10, 2008 - 43 comments

Product Placement Banned in U.K. Minister says it 'contaminates programs'.
posted by jeremy b on Jun 13, 2008 - 44 comments

Starbucks saved his life , and now Tom Hanks is saving his bank account. A story of a middle-aged man with a successful career in advertising, was fired from his high-paying job, was divorced by his wife, and was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and found himself getting back to basics working for $10.50/hour at Starbucks, finding himself, and loving it. How does he manage to deal with such a huge downgrade from his previously life? Well, turns out it doesn't matter too much, as it's soon to be a movie starring Tom Hanks.
posted by Tommy Gnosis on Sep 27, 2007 - 77 comments

No Escape!
It's in your your music, plastered all over your public spaces, in your movies, on your clothes and in your art,
it's over there --------------------------------------------------->
(as long as this is the first story on the main page), it's in your books, in your schools
It everywhere except inside your body... until now
posted by Capn on Jun 8, 2004 - 21 comments

McDonalds will be a franchise in The Sims Online computer game. Will my Sim character get fat if he eats at a Sim McDonalds? I guess we'll need Sim lawyers to help us out on that one.
posted by Beholder on Sep 17, 2002 - 27 comments

"Plugs in the City" My Spock like left eyebrow went up questioningly at the ease with which Charlotte York discreetly ordered her embarrassing book with 1-click® shopping. She was going to buy it at the books store with Miranda, who had just come from a Weight Watchers® meeting and was trying to resist the cravings for Krispy Kreme®. Mmmm... original glazed is my favorite, too. While I enjoy the fact that HBO doesn't have commercials, I thought that is why I paid $20 a month. Some how I prefer real ads to this insidious crap. It was creepy and also destroyed a lot of the immersion of the show for me. The whole episode seemed stilted and odd.
posted by McBain on Aug 12, 2002 - 56 comments

Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Gap.... If ever there was a candidate for being sued this site would be it... with a three-minute music video setting logos, brand names and glossy corporate imagery against adbusting in-jokes and shots of police brutality. Anti-capitalist anthem or the ultimate in product placement? And how long until the site's namesakes get it pulled off the Web?
posted by skylar on Feb 6, 2002 - 19 comments

Fay Weldon, Part 2. Michael Chabon, Rick Moody, and other writers give their opinion in this Salon piece.
posted by sassone on Sep 4, 2001 - 1 comment

Underground marketing shills "put it in your life". Big Fat co. sends 18-34yr olds into the world to act out ad dramas promoting products. "I feel so great, so real." (I'm not sure what the writer means by "facially attractive, in that asymmetrical sort of way," though.)[via null device, NYT reg. req.]

Ten-day Ubik deodorant spray or Ubik roll-on ends worry of offending, brings you back where the happening is.
posted by aflakete on Jul 16, 2001 - 12 comments

Survivor is filled with crap for sale - so why can't I find that groovy Panama hat Colby wears for sale, anywhere?
posted by subpixel on Apr 29, 2001 - 3 comments