As US moviegoers head out to see Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon this weekend, some of the products characters use in the film might not be recognizable to them, but it’s not because the movie’s writers tried to come up with funky names for things. Instead, a few of the products used in the film come from a market even bigger than America: China.

As brandchannel's resident product placement guru Abe Sauer noted here last week, the third installment in the Transformers movie franchise is also a showcase for Chinese brands, as the Financial Times picks up on.

“The main motivation is to expand their brand recognition in foreign markets, but for others the focus is on the domestic market because the effect with foreign movies is better,” says Didi Zhang at advertising firm Ogilvy & Mather Beijing, which placed computer manufacturer Lenovo in Transformers 3, to FT.com.Continue reading...

New movies opening over the weekend didn't stand a chance against Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

The Michael Bay blow 'em up about a "a peaceful race of intelligent mechanical beings" regained top spot at the domestic box office yet again, earning over $645 million so far worldwide. Maybe audiences were chased away from Zookeeper as a result of the perceived glut of product placement — even though, as we confirmed, T.G.I. Friday's did not pay for its inclusion.

We have already catalogued the identifiable products and brands in Transformers 3. That doesn't mean there aren't a few more notable points, such as how Chinese brands are failing to capitalize on their placements, even while Hasbro is capitalizing on everything it owns.Continue reading...

Our most-read blog posts of the past week range from the Starbucks' "Black Guy" Receipt Scandal to Skype on Facebook:

#1 Starbucks Latest to Suffer "Black Guy" Receipt Scandal

#2 Transformers 3 Product Placement: If Tom Hanks Gets a Pass, Michael Bay Does Not

#3 BP Returns to TV

#4 Facebook Launches Video Calling With Skype

#5 Petite Lap Giraffe: A Tiny Viral Marketing Success

#6 Coke and WWF Green the Philippines with “Living Billboard”

#7 Target Aims Logo at Chicago Landmark

#8 Duane Reade Opens Premium Drugstore 'Experience' on Wall Street

#9 How Moleskine Converts Fans (and Retailers) to Brand Ambassadors

#10 Colgate Puts Teeth Into Social Marketing

Over the July Fourth holiday weekend, America gave thanks to those who have given it its freedom and defended its liberty from the powers that would take it away: Transformers.

Indeed, one of the film's spots (above) seems to leverage both its Independence Day weekend release date and America's anti-terrorism zeal to ratchet up the rhetoric. "We will kill them all," growls good guy Optimus Prime after a passing tattered stars and stripes flag flaps in the destruction of an American city, a declaration that could apply to the film's Decepticons as well as Al Qaeda.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is hardly only a mirror of the nation's political discourse — it is also a commercial juggernaut so knitted together with product placement that it's impossible to tell where the film ends and the commercial begins. In other words, it's classic Michael Bay.Continue reading...

We've already looked at the Chevy tie-in for Transformers 3 and noted how the film is the third installment in a trifecta of films — with Fast Five and Cars 2 — that make automakers squeal with delight.

So let's look at what else is hitting theaters this Independence Day weekend, including product placement champ Tom Hanks' new joint, and the Ford viral tie-in that managed to win out despite the timing.Continue reading...

If it was up to automakers (and Hollywood), every year would see a stream of sequels from the three hit movie franchises hitting theaters through April and June this year.

Between Fast Five, Cars 2 and the upcoming Transformers 3, audiences have willingly subjected themselves to a level of auto product placement from Hollywood hits that borders on pornography. Call it "carnography."

From Ford Mustangs and Dodge Chargers to Range Rovers, VWs and the Chevy "Bublebee" Camaro, has there ever been a better three-month stretch for cinephile gearheads?

But while the Transformers and Fast Five series are straightforward about highlighting models, Cars 2 plays faster and looser, leaning on car brand stereotypes when necessary, and mixing and matching brands.Continue reading...