That watershed event helped turn product placement into a business. The question is how well placement works, especially in an age when much of the audience is downright cynical about advertising. Despite the longtime prevalence of product placement, many industry observers are curious to see what happens now that Coke has raised the stakes. Coke is likely to ink a similar deal for summer 2001. The combination pushed the envelope beyond routine deals.
Coke shrugs off the criticism.
Michael Kamins, a marketing professor at the University of Southern California, is one of a handful of academics who've studied product placement. Companies are nonetheless willing to pay for the privilege. BMW bought its way into three James Bond films. That's because Aston Martin's new owner, Ford Motor Co., bought the rights for the high-profile product placement. What viewers probably don't realize is that many placements are free.