If you've ever noticed or been able to recall the brand name of a product you saw in a television program, movie, or other form of entertainment then you've been on the successful receiving end of the marketing practice known as product placement. If you saw the movie "Cast Away", for example, you may remember that Tom Hanks' character worked for Fed-Ex, and that the volleyball that became his constant island companion was manufactured by Wilson. Product placement doesn't always have to be in the form of an object, however. Name-dropping as part of the dialogue qualifies, as in the movie "Pulp Fiction" where the main characters have a lengthy discussion about McDonald's and Burger King. And it isn't limited just to TV and movies; it can also occur in books, plays, music videos, and most recently, video games. Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is an old school method that has existed as long as television has ("Texaco Star Theater" is an example of an early TV show that pioneered product placement) and it is becoming even more popular as home theater technology rapidly evolves to allow viewers to skip past commercials.

While advertisers are willing to shell out big bucks to have their name or product seen in a film or other highly visible outlet, it's a challenge for them to measure the success of product placement. In 2006, Nielsen Media Research conducted a study of product placement at their testing facility. The experiment was conducted over a nine-month period and over 10,000 viewers participated. The study found that 46.6% of the viewers remembered a brand when it had been presented to them in a traditional commercial, but that recall level climbed to 57.5% when the brand was shown in a product placement environment. Such results indicate that product placement offers at least some extra oomph to a brand's exposure and recognition factor.

Product placement is a controversial method of marketing, however. If a product makes an appearance in a movie that contains violent or salacious content, if can actually backfire on the brand, making it synonymous with an unfavorable film. The same goes for movies that are just plain bad, as was the case with Bill Cosby's box office failure "Leonard Part 6." The movie was widely criticized for its numerous Coca-Cola placements, which means the marketing practice is also highly susceptible to overkill. Movies that contain too much of it, or too many products, tend to get noticed and criticized in our advertising heavy society. The movie "The Island" features over twenty products and brands, which didn't go unfazed by critics. And product placement has also recently come under fire by the Federal Communications Committee, who is calling for restrictions on children's programming to prevent them from being exposed to too much brand placement.

Nonetheless, product placement, remains a very popular and powerful form of subliminal advertising when used in moderation. The next time you watch a movie or TV program or read a fictional novel, see if you notice how many instances of product placement occur.

Learn more about this author, Pamela Sosnowski.
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