Commercial Breakdown Or Breakthrough?

With the news that product placement is to be allowed on TV, we track the history of covert advertising - or 'brand cameos' - in the movies

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No one is sure when product placement began but some pundits date the phenomenon to 1951 and The African Queen when Gordon's Gin paid Katharine Hepburn to toss their product overboard rather than anyone else's. The most famous placement is perhaps the use of Reese's Pieces in E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial which saw a 66 per cent rise in sales across the US after the cuddly alien was coaxed from hiding by a trail of them.

Drinks companies compete to get into films, primarily because their products are close to the point of sale - the cinema foyer, or the fridge if you're watching on DVD. Coca-Cola took the lead when they forked out £103m for the global marketing rights for Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, more than the budget of the film itself.

Conscious of the negative PR this could generate, author JK Rowling ensured the drinks manufacturers pledged to fund community-reading schemes, and that the face of Harry or other characters did not appear on the cans, asking Warner Brothers to 'respect children's imaginations'. Association with fast food seemed like a deal made in heaven until the Super Size Me effect. In 2005 Disney dropped its Happy Meal promotional deal with McDonalds and opted for a campaign putting stickers of Disney characters on healthier foods like fresh fruit.

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