Audiences are eagerly awaiting the release of the film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Road, opening November 25. And fans want adherence to the bleak, original Cormac McCarthy novel.

But not really.

Reports from early screenings are surfacing that scenes including "product placements" in the film, especially one with a can of Coca-Cola, are drawing groans. But as the film's director John Hilcoat explains, he was just being loyal to the source:

There’s some people who don’t know the book and have picked up on this in the film and say, Why did they go for such a blatant product placement?Continue reading...

As noted by our brandcameo product placement tracking team, the Twinkies brand was the recent beneficiary of a load of on-screen promotion in the film Zombieland.

While its brand may seem obvious and one-dimensional, Twinkies' complex character actually makes them a film favorite. They are, all at once, iconic Americana: nutritional garbage, proof of man's triumph over nature, and self-deprecatingly modest. From Die Hard's Sgt. Powell to Grease's Jan to Bill and Ted's Bill and Ted, a Twinkie-eating protagonist is a decent, fun person who doesn't take him- or herself too seriously.Continue reading...

Thanks to Woody Harrelson, star of last weekend's US top-grossing Zombieland, the world now knows vegan Twinkies. His new film's plot revolves around the spongy cakes, which he spends munching as he looks for the last Twinkie on earth. As Michelle Boisson reports:

While Twinkie, by far, receives the most prominent brandcameo in the film—being totally integrated in the plot—in reality, Harrelson couldn’t eat the Hostess brand. Being a raw vegan, he had to have special Twinkie-like cakes made for him.

Zombieland may be a dangerous place, but it's also a brand fiesta. Many products make appearances in the comedy-horror film, ranging from the AK-47 to Cadillac Escalade, and from Animal Crackers to Purell. (See the brandcameo page for brandchannel's complete reference list of product placements in this and other top-grossing films.)

One well-known social media site also shows up, though it most likely didn't pay for the mention. According to Jesse Eisenberg's character Columbus, the best thing about Zombieland is: “No more Facebook status updates.”