Number of movies:
1.954Product Placement Power
How companies use movies and TV to promote their brands
Every year we spend millions of hours watching movies and TV. The top shows are seen by huge audiences from all over the world, and can have a lasting effect on modern day culture. Communities of dedicated fans discuss and critique their favourite movies and shows in online forums, over social media, and in-person, and the vast swathes of merchandise that accompany the most successful shows is a testament to their popularity.
To a business however, these large audiences and loyal fan bases are an ideal opportunity for them to market their products to a captive and enthusiastic audience. Historically, this has mostly been done through the block of adverts that are shown in movie theatres before a film starts showing, or in the commercial breaks that break up TV shows on traditional television.
Another less obvious way of accessing these audiences is through product placement, whereby a company has it’s product or brand featured prominently in a scene within a movie or TV show. This more subtle method of advertising has been around for a while, but it’s importance has been rising as movie theatre audiences have dwindled, meaning that it is often the only way to leverage the attention of viewers and promote your product.
As advertising is the most in-demand service on Sortlist, increasing by 14% from 2020 to 2021, we decided to investigate the prevalence of product placement as a method of advertising. We can now reveal which brands and products are most widely featured in movies and television, as well as which films and shows contain the most product placements.
The top movies for product placements
Product placement in movies
Number of product placements:
24.635Average product placements per movie:
12.61Product placement in movies has been taking place for decades. Associating your brand or product with a popular franchise or heroic character is a smart way of improving its image and building a positive impression. These are often subtle placements where you might subconsciously notice that a character’s chosen beer is a particular brand, sometimes it’s a little more obvious, such as Will Smith’s character in I, Robot who is obsessed with his new Converse Allstars.
As we can see, this phenomenon has become commonplace, with the average movie including 12.61 product placements during its runtime. In this section, we’ll take a closer look at the movies with the highest number of product placements of all time.
1
@glamrockgirlz
Josie and the Pussycats
109 Product placements
The movie with the highest number of product placements is Josie and the Pussycats, a 2001 musical comedy that unfortunately failed to click with audiences having earned back less than half of its estimated $39 million budget at the box office. This movie featured 109 separate instances of products being included for marketing purposes, which suggests they may have gone slightly overboard with their monetisation of the movie, rather than creating a memorable film.
2
@sexandthecity.official
Sex and the City
89 Product placements
The first movie adaptation of synonymous TV show Sex and the City has the second highest number of product placements at 89. Further exploring the love lives of the core characters fans had come to know and love, advertisers were quick to realise how effective product placement in this movie could be. This adaptation was a roaring success, with its budget of approximately $65 million being justified by global box office takings of $418.8 million.
2
@celebsonsocial
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
89 Product placements
Tied for second place having also featured 89 product placements is the 2006 comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. This movie follows the career of fictional NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) who goes from humble beginnings to sporting stardom, culminating in a showdown with foreign rival Jean Girard, played by Sacha Baron Cohen. The setting of a sport awash with advertising is the perfect opportunity for plenty of product placements.
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The top TV shows for product placements
In addition to regular commercials between or during episodes, TV shows can also include product placements to bring in additional revenue from brands and marketers. In fact, the average number of product placements per TV show is much higher than the average per movie, sitting at 49.36, though TV shows do have the chance of continuing for multiple series, giving advertising many more chances to get their products included.
1
@theofficeframes
The Office (US)
1,448 Product placements
The TV show with the highest number of product placements is The Office (US), which had a whopping 1,448 individual instances of product placement. The Office was a hugely successful workplace sitcom based on a British show of the same name and spanned 9 seasons in total, which explains why brands were so keen to see their products featured.
2
@seinfeld_newyork
Seinfeld
867 Product placements
Legendary US sitcom Seinfeld recorded the second highest number of product placements at 867. As one of the most successful sitcoms of all time with 180 episodes, products placed on Seinfled will have had plenty of exposure to audiences.
3
@sexandthecity.official
Sex and the City
806 Product placements
In third place is Sex and the City, which saw 806 product placements over 6 seasons. Another highly popular show which even went on to spawn two movies, Sex and the City has been enjoyed by millions of viewers who will have all laid eyes upon the products included on behalf of brands.
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The top product categories for placement in movies and TV
Having looked at the movies and shows that have featured the most product placements, we now turn our attention to looking at what types of products were inserted into our favourite media. Here we can see the total number of recorded product placements for each product category.
1
Clothing & Outfits
5,844 Product placements
The product category with most product placements in TV and movies is Clothing & Outfits, with 5,844 separate product placements. This category is especially easy to include and effective for marketers as you can get famous actors to wear your merchandise and show it off to audiences in movie theatres and living rooms across the world.
2
Drinks & Non-Alcoholic Beverages
5,029 Product placements
The second highest number of product placements was seen in the Drinks & Non-Alcoholic Beverages category, with a total of 5,029. This category is also ideal for product placements, as any scene in which a character might go to a restaurant, have a meal or just feel thirsty is a potential opportunity for marketing your product to the viewing audience.
3
Alcoholic Drinks
4,822 Product placements
In third place is the Alcoholic Drinks category, which saw 4,822 instances of product placement. Any character who visits a bar, or any scene involving a party, celebration or gathering is a prime opportunity to place your own brand of beer, wine or spirit into the shot, associating your brand with the good times had on-screen.
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The brands that use product placement the most
We were also curious to find out which specific brands are most likely to employ product placement as a marketing tactic. Here we can see the total number of product placements for the top 10 most prevalent brands in movies and TV.
Overall, Apple has the most instances of product placement at 5,293, but this figure is split across some of their owned brands such as MacBook and iPhone, which have been counted separately.
1
Nike
3,134 Product placements
The most featured brand is Nike, with 3,314 product placements. From cool streetwear to high-performance sports shoes, there’s an endless list of characters who make ideal models for showing off some stylish footwear on-screen.
2
Macbook
2,145 Product placements
In second place is MacBook, which technically speaking could have gone in the Apple category, but with so many instances of product placement, it deserved it’s own spot on our leaderboard. From busy office scenes to wistful writers sitting on the beach, MacBook has been featured all across the globe in all manner of settings.
3
iPhone
1,626 Product placements
One of the most successful brands of the 21st century, iPhones can be found in people’s pockets and purses all over the world. Their sleek design, reliability and desirability keep customers coming back whenever a new model is released.
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Methodology
We wanted to find out which movies and TV shows contain the most product placement, as well as which brands and products are featured the most. To do this, we used data from Product Placement Blog that allowed us to see the most common tags in their index of product placement, as well as the top movies and shows. We divided the tags into brands and product categories and ranked them according to their frequency. We also used information iMDB to discuss the box office statistics of some of the movies with the most instances of product placement, allowing us to consider whether these placements were successful in marketing their brands to large audiences.