A staggering 33-million-plus likes can be found at The Fast and Furious 6 Facebook page. By comparison, Iron Man 3's page has fewer than half of that. Star Trek: Into Darkness? Just 2.7 million. The much anticipated Superman reboot Man of Steel comes in with just 621,000. The Fast and Furious franchise isn't just a blockbuster, money-generating film series—its a lifestyle franchise. It's the perfect marriage of big balls, small bikinis, bad guys with good hearts and, most importantly, automobile porn. It is, in no understated terms, America's id.

Dodge is once again partnering with that id, continuing what might be one of the most successful product placement partnerships in film history. This time Dodge is hoping to rub some Furious id off on its Dart and Challenger models. And it might. But Fast and Furious will always be about the Charger.Continue reading...

A Ford ad ties into the NBC series The Smash. So far, the show has brought lackluster ratings.

The Middle, Smash and Portlandia offer three examples of the growing seamlessness between product/brand placement and the creative content of TV series.

On ABC's The Middle this week, the episode was practically an ode to two brands: iPad and Red Lobster. The youngest child in the Heck family, Brick, pines and pesters for an iPad until his parents, Frankie (played by Patricia Heaton) and Mike, finally relent and buy him a restored model on eBay. Until they do, a huge chunk of the script is devoted to Brick's description of the wonders of the iPad.

Much of the rest of the story depicts the family at a Red Lobster, naming the restaurant repeatedly and including a shot of a juicy lobster. (A Red Lobster ad also aired during the episode — though there was no commercial for iPad.)Continue reading...

Six months after buying in to art of selling out with his film Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Morgan Spurlock is using his newfound expertise to help other filmmakers get in on the action.

Spurlock has partnered with the Grey New York agency on a new service called Launch PAD, which aims to match filmmakers with sponsors and product placement deals.

The media-savvy filmmaker called Launch PAD, featured on a panel taking place Wednesday at the Doc NYC festival, "a unique opportunity for both brands and filmmakers to benefit from the other's expertise."

It might revolutionize independent filmmaking, or it might crash and burn… like the numerous other product placement matchmaker services that came before it. But one thing is for sure, Morgan Spurlock will get paid.Continue reading...

Television viewers in Ireland could always find certain products placed in American TV shows and those made elsewhere. But it has long been against the rules to do that on a show produced in Ireland.

All that changed a few months ago. The Irish Times reports that September will mark the first month that product placement appears in a television show produced in Ireland.

The product? Coffee. Mugs of Kenco Coffee, an instant produced by Kraft Food, will somehow find their way into the hands of hosts and guests on TV3’s Morning Show and Midday Continue reading...

A few days ago, we addressed concerns from Forbes about product placement on Sarah Palin's Newsweek magazine cover.

Forbes cited rules by ASME (the American Society of Magazine Editors) regarding covers and product placement, to wit: “The cover and spine should not be used to advertise products other than the magazine itself."

What, then, does that mean for the latest cover of GQ?Continue reading...

Forbes blogger Jeff Bercovici gives Newsweek both barrels in a piece with the headline "Did Sarah Palin Use Newsweek for Product Placement?"

The accusation is that Palin not only pulled one over on Newsweek by sporting a hoodie with an "Edge Fitness" logo on the magazine's current cover story, but that she also may have broken Federal Trade Commission guidelines on endorsements and testimonials.

Turns out she might be OK, but two other conservatives may be in trouble.Continue reading...

Yesterday, President Obama answered questions in the first ever Twitter town hall. Over an hour, with the help of Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey, Obama answered questions that came in via Twitter, including one from Speaker of the House John Boehner, and even tweeted a few responses himself.

One detail of the session caught the eye of many observers watching the live-stream — the covering of a logo by the president's official seal.Continue reading...

Having already screened at Sundance and South by Southwest, director Morgan Spurlock's new documentary on product placement (POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold) is opening on Earth Day (April 22nd) in select US markets.Continue reading...