How to Work Product Placement Shamelessly into Your Narrative

We, as a society, are still trying to work out how corporate sponsorship of TV shows can work. There was a time when characters on hour-long dramas would be embroiled in some life or death situation then suddenly become distracted by how incredibly roomy their new car is. I distinctly remember an episode of Fringe where two FBI agents discuss whether their new Nissan Leaf had enough range to make it to the paranormal crime scene. These are characters who dealt with alternate dimensions and alien invaders, but their most pressing concern was range anxiety.

These days I mainly notice product placement on HGTV, which is already in the process of becoming the 24/7-attractive-couples-bickering-about-backsplash-tile-channel. Occasionally they’ll compose the shot in such a way as to make it obvious that said attractive couple is bickering in a Ford.

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