Apple Leads Brands Cringing Through the Casey Anthony Trial

The sensational trial of Casey Anthony, the mother accused of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, has become the biggest media courtroom circus since O.J. It's also proving to be the most brand-laden trial since O.J. Simpson modeled gloves.

Day after day, the jury is exposed to photos and new evidence by the prosecution about how Anthony conspired to, and then covered up, a murder. And it's all branded.

The contents of her trunk laid bare revealed Arm & Hammer, Crystal Light, Mountain Dew, and Sprite. In testimony, expert witnesses and her attorney spar over how many seconds it was before she went to Myspace.

In addition to the web and social media brands that are being scraped by the prosecution for evidence (helping with the scraping, CacheBack is likely seeing a lifet in sales) within the courtroom, it's all about Apple for the defense:

The above AP photo has being used in numerous reports in the last day in such mainstream publications as the Christian Science Monitor.

In video coverage of the trial (and in the numerous live streams from the courtroom hosted at news sites), the MacBook sits open, logo exposed, every time cameras cut back to the accused. Meanwhile, shots of the prosecution's table reveal what appear to be Dells. Of course, it's exposure that neither brand asked for or relishes.. 

Then there is what will become this trial's "Bruno Magli" moment. Bruno Magli were the brand of shoes OJ claimed not to own, just before photos of him wearing Maglis were revealed.

When Anthony's mother Cindy testified about the brand she reached for to cover up the stench of what prosecutors argue was the child's decomposing body in Casey's car trunk (Pontiac Firebird is also less than thrilled at the constant mentions), Mrs. Anthony said, "I sprayed the car with Febreze."

Now, that's one endorsement Febreze won't be using in its marketing any time soon.

No harm will likely come to any of the brands — Caylee's beloved Disney, Dora and Winnie the Pooh characters have all come up on material evidence — so far connected with the trial. In the case of OJ's trial, Bruno Magli actually recorded a jump in sales of the shoe in question following its exposure in the Simpson case.

Still, at this pace, who knows what brand will get dragged into the courtroom next.