At the Movies: Hop Carrots, Source Code Donuts and Apple Cyber Trust Issues

This weekend's slate of movie openings offers a little product placement for everyone.

A time traveling sci-fi mind-bender offers up donuts. A tragic tale of cyber predation is full of one glossy tech brand in particular. And then there is the kids' Easter product placement juggernaut that is Hop, and its basket of major brand "partners."  

But first, at top, check out a behind-the-scenes look at Morgan Spurlock's doc on product placement, Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, used to advertise KDF wrap graphics services.

Let's begin with Jake Gyllenhaal's new sci-fi flick, Source Code:

Audiences won't have to wait long to source some product placement; watch for the Dunkin' Donuts placement in the first five minutes of the film:

It's just one of Dunkin's upcoming placements. The Cameron Diaz vehicle Bad Teacher will also feature the chain's distinctive pink and orange logo:

Next, we turn to our reigning product placement champ, Apple, and wonder: is all product placement good product placement?

Trust opens with a teen receiving a new Apple MacBook, a device that eventually leads to her sexual abuse at the hands of an online predator:

Could this finally be the one film role Apple should have skipped?

Next, to even younger kids under the brand influence, via the Easter treat, Hop.

The potential for product placement in Hop cannot be overstated, and indeed, the filmmakers have lined up some major promotional partnerships, including Comcast's Xfinity brand, Kraft, Burger King and Walmart.

Just how many of these partners work themselves into the film remains to be seen, especially given how carefully studios, producers and brands step when it comes to danging brands in kids' entertainment.

XFinity's Hop tie-in, by the way, includes a sweepstakes giving away one MacBook Air every day, while Walmart is offering an ovious merchandising tie-in with a Hop-themed Easter Basket.

Baby carrots tie in, too (what's a bunny to eat?) as a food that is busy trying to rebrand itself as a snack food on par with chips and cheese doodles. Even the baby carrots packaging capitalizes on the film with a cheeky message:

Finally, this will be the opening weekend in limited markets in the US for Rubber, an absurdist grindhouse film about a murderous tire. It's also probably the missed product placement opportunity of the year so far, unless Goodyear or another brand was offered the placement and passed:

Let us know if you catch any of these films and post a comment about the brands you spot and how they're presented.