CIA field agents secretly stationed in South Africa probably use iPhones, right?

Well, in the world of this week's new #1 movie, Safe House, they sure do. It's just one more product placement victory for Apple, which just ran away with the top award at the annual Product Placement Awards. What's more, the placement in Safe House already puts the brand in four of 2012's eight top films, a full 50 percent of the #1 movies so far this year.

Apple isn't the only notable "brand" in Safe House, which co-stars Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington. BMW finds a way into the film throughout the action, including shiny sedans and a BMW motorcycle ridden by the star at the beginning of the movie.

And you know your car chase scene rocks when the BBC's iconic Top Gear series finds it worth mentioning. Top Gear's webpage compliments the scene for involving "a battered maroon E32 BMW 735i."Continue reading...

Enjoy this "commercial" for Scorpion Beer, the "Official Beer of Armando Alvarez and Casa de mi Padre," the new Will Ferrell movie out March 16. The tagline: "When you're having more than 12." (That's right: Ferrell isn't just about Old Milwaukee.)

But before then, we have to get through Valentine's Day. This year, it seems the lone Valentine's Day entry, Sony's The Vow with Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, isn't wasting any brand partnering opportunities. The "inspired by true events" weepy tale of an amnesiac wife and the husband who tries to rekindle the romance has a dozen official brand partners, worthy of a summer blockbuster movie about superheroes who transform into robots that end the world… in 3D … or something.Continue reading...