Product placement is a marketing strategy aimed at placing products in a visible setting outside a typical marketing context (PQMedia, 2005). Movie placement is a good example. Food product placement made its most prominent debut when Steven Spielberg’s ET character ate Reese’s Pieces^® candy in the movie ET, and short-term national sales of the candy increased by 66 percent (Mazur, 1996).The role of product placement in television has become more popular over the past 5 years as an integral component of a larger marketing strategy (PQMedia, 2005). Product placements are increasingly being used across various media vehicles simultaneously including network and cable television programs; films; radio lyrics; pop, hip-hop, and rap music; videos and DVDs; comic strips; books; plays; video games; and advergames (Gupta and Gould, 1997; Holt, 2004; Mortimer, 2002). Marketers recognize the importance of product placement with children and youth who have grown up using technology and turn to other media outlets than television for entertainment and information.

Product placement is part of a broader segment of marketing services called branded entertainment (PQMedia, 2005). Although a product is visible in television shows or films, it is often not the focus, and fits seamlessly into the context of a story or program. Product integration is a special type of product placement where an advertised product is central to the program’s content (PQMedia, 2005). Product placement is designed by media production agents to provide realism to movie and television scenes while attempting to influence viewers through increased brand awareness and product endorsement (Karrh, 1994).

Product placement in prime-time television programs and movies. Although product placement is prohibited by law in programs directed at children (Linn, 2004), it is common in prime-time television programming. There has been limited research investigating the frequency of placement of branded food and beverage products in television programming. One examination of their frequency on prime-time television programming found that nearly 3,000 brand appearances occurred in 154 prime-time programs over a week of programming aired in 1997 on the four major networks—ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox (Avery and Ferraro, 2000). Some evidence shows that the amount of money spent on product placement for food and beverage products may be substantial. For example, The Coca-Cola Company paid $20 million for product placement on American Idol, a television program that is heavily viewed by tweens and teens (Linn, 2004).

Product placements are abundant in children’s and teens’ movies. In the 2002 film, Spiderman^®, the action hero used his web-spinning capabilities