I think there's a difference between "product placement" (which is taking money from sponsors to feature their products in a show, often with cross-promotion - ie. James Bond and BMW) and using name-brand products in a show to give it authenticity. It's jarring when a couple of wealthy guys are sitting around drinking no-name beer, as we've seen in the past. While some may doubt whether the spokespeople are telling the truth, the article should only feature sourced information. If it deserves mention in the article at all (which I'm dubious about) it should be something like "Sopranos is known for featuring name-brand products such as cars and clothing labels prominently. Spokespeople for HBO and the various products claim that no money is involved in these appearances, which are used to give the show a sense of authenticity." - a