November 23rd, 2009

Product Placement

Product placement has been around for decades and with the multi-billion dollar film industry growing everyday it can make or break a product’s market potential. This video highlights the classic Sci-Fi movie, E.T. and the millions Reese’s Pieces gained in candy sales following the film’s premier. Originally, Mars Incorporated was approached by director Steven Spielberg to use their candy in the film. Executives found the alien so ugly that they feared negative public backlash and refused to allow M&M’s to be used in the movie. Luckily for Reese’s Pieces the film was a blockbuster success and boosted the candy giant’s profits by over 65%. Never to be underestimated, product placement is a valuable and lucrative tool to be exploited by companies and marketers alike.

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