Carrie Bradshaw Dumps Apple: "It's Not You, It's HP"

For legions of Sex and the City fans, life in the Big Apple is synonymous with Apple. With news that Sex and the City 2 will feature Hewlett-Packard products, it may come as something of a shock to see Carrie Bradshaw without a Macbook. Carrie, it's like, we don't even know you anymore.

The New York Times reports on a product placement deal that threatens one of Apple's most iconic and lucrative brand-building product placements: "The agreement, for undisclosed terms, will include appearances by Hewlett-Packard PCs and notebook computers in scenes in Sex and the City 2 along with a sweepstakes and promotions like screenings and events in stores, all sponsored by Hewlett-Packard."

Adding insult to injury, SATC's Sarah Jessica Parker will appear as herself in HP's TV commercials, print ads, outdoor ads and online ads—at least not in character as Carrie Bradshaw.

For more than a decade Sex and the City's Carrie Bradshaw has been synonymous with Apple. It was a symbiotic relationship. As she climbed, Bradshaw's Manhattan insider chic rubbed off on the Apple brand and when Apple's shiny silver devices became the epitome of sexy tech, they returned the favor.

For Apple, Sex and the City is probably its most influential product placement of all time: "On the aspirational path from Boondocks, Nebraska to Manhattan, wannabe Bradshaws everywhere saw a Macbook as a first stop."

Just as the fashions will morph in the movie's Moroccan setting, will a missing MacBook change the movie experience? Not for most audiences.

But some movie-goers may perceive Carrie Bradshaw thinking up puns to describe her life on anything but an Apple product as a sign that Carrie has grown up and, just maybe, expanded her options to consider substance alongside style.

Will the lost product placement hurt Apple? Probably not a great deal, as the brand has squeezed just about every last drop out of the franchise. Apple has set its sights on kicking apps with the next generation.