While much of the world stayed home to watch movies, stream TV shows, listen to podcasts, play video games, and so much more, those in marketing, advertising, product placement, and branded entertainment took notice and took action. What’s most remarkable is how many product placements many of these entertainment productions had. What does that mean? It’s table stakes these days. It’s expected. All brands, of all sizes, are getting into the fray. The best news is, movie companies and marketing folks are working together like clockwork. 

What we found most enjoyable about making this list was we were busy! There’s one. And another. It was fun and exciting to see this business blasting off like a money making rocketship for both sides of the coin. Take a look at what we dug up. These shows really made some noise. And while we didn’t list them all (you’d be reading all night), we are happy that the work we are all doing has nothing but upside. Enjoy!

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FREE GUY – Product Placement

Start with the jokes: nothing free about getting into Free Guy with a product placement OR that this movie is not free of incredible placements and integration. Wow. This is an incredible showing with a massive variety of brands big and small, global and somewhat local. What we were most loving here is integration of brands we’ve never seen doing this before. It featured over 100 different product placement brands. 

Chevy is no stranger to the big screen and big scenes. They are all about the speed and action and their sports cars didn’t disappoint. Big colors. Massive acceleration. These scenes make kids big and small drool over the cream of the crop of Chevy’s new rides. 

Why this product placement is the best:  Take special note of how the sky fell all around these rides without leaving so much as a speck of dust on these speederster’s museum quality shines. 

LG steps into the golden age of screens  by dropping some of their screens onto our screen. From games to info to calls, these images were keys to the story and were a perfect focal point to get some huge brand recognition. There’s an even really eye-opening shot of an especially cool curved monitor that shone like a diamond.

Why this product placement is the best: The three rules of product placement: Logos, logos, logos and whoever watched over this one for LG made sure their logo was perfectly lit to take the scene over for a few perfectly done moments. 

CASIO nailed it time and time again (pun intended) with some incredible placement. Ryan Reynolds was able to make sure his wrist played an Oscar worthy performance to make sure the face of these watches was always facing the crowd. Wow, two terrible puns in one paragraph. Sorry folks!

Why this product placement is the best: The understated awesomeness of the model Casio chose. While James Bond may have chosen a sparkly luxury watch, Casio went with an old-school, simple retro look that really gets noticed and works perfectly with the stars laid back image. Take note that upscale and beyond the reach of the audience isn’t always the answer.

HyperX gaming headsets, in a movie that launched just a little bit ahead of the fall holiday shopping season was a great marketing play. Several scenes with many different beautiful actresses was a play I am sure wasn’t by mistake. One thing we took note of what how nicely they fit the star and the scene and went on and off with ease. There was for sure someone from this brand making sure the product was performing.

Why this product placement is the best: Excellent color choice. Beats by Dre launched with this bright red and here it comes again on another product that makes it work. Except now, there’s more flash to it. This product popped.

YouTube – This is here out of sheer surprise to see another media company inside a piece of media. So meta! 

Why this product placement is the best: The content actually shows off an aspect of YouTube that most people don’t know about. So, this actually works as an advertisement of a product’s performance rather than just a visual placement. 

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Hyundai product placement in Spider man 2021

Spiderman No Way Home – Product Placement

Korean car maker, Hyundai, has become a leader in product placement and sponsorship. From the NBA to now the NFL and now getting into the biggest blockbuster of the year. This is a huge, huge move and one that has already paid off when we look at the perfect timing when people are returning to theaters. Talk about nailing it. Two different gorgeous cars in one of the best looking, attention grabbing movies ever. And, like Free Guy, this is a movie that reaches everyone, so the car is right in line to attract the car buying attention of a massive net of people.

Why this product placement is the best: This wasn’t just a play in one movie… Hyundai absolutely went beyond the film with a standalone commercial that was a home run for a very key reason: More movie content that had fanboys running to watch it and share it more and more on social media. That’s how you do it ladies and gentlemen! Get those eyeballs!

No Time To Die – Product Placement

James Bond is the gold standard of product placement and Triumph motorcycles did not disappoint fans of the film catalog or the motorbike followers. It was so good that it almost made you wonder why this brand hasn’t been a staple in every film. As with all films starring whatever James you love the most, the stunts and the jaw dropping action pushed these bikes to the limit. You are wowed at every turn, jump and ride and the scenery makes these bikes that much more want worthy. You can’t help but think about getting on one or just plain getting one. 

Why this product placement is the best: There’s just something about this partnership that worked. While you could have dropped a speed bike in here like Ducati, this is a brand that works hard, gets dirty, pull off huge feats and still feels classy enough to be Bond worthy. 

Omega watches must show up in a James Bond film because the man does four things in his films – Holds guns, drinks, steering wheels and women. So, focusing on the hands is big and this watch doesn’t disappoint. Plus a little fun fact is Daniel Craig helped design this timepiece. There is of course the coolest part of these movies is when he gets all his awesome toys to take into action and this watch is one of the stars. I mean, come on! This may be the most sough after reveal in movie history that people wait the whole film to see… and then bam! Here comes a new Omega centerstage. 

Why this product placement is the best: Besides the fact that it does appear in the best part of these films, the reason we’re adding this is because Omega keeps sticking with this franchise. It’s not a cheap buy in, but it works and shouldn’t ever be given up. So, cheers to not breaking what works. Again. 

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Curb Your Enthusiasm 2021 7-Eleven Big Gulp Product placement
7-Eleven Big Gulp Drink in Curb Your Enthusiasm S11E08 “What Have I Done?” (2021)

Curb Your Enthusiasm – Product Placement

7-Eleven Big Gulp. Curb fans love random and fun and a Big Gulp quenches both of these thirsts. There’s also something about a Big Gulp that makes people want one so having it in scenes that are fun and playful is perfect marketing… get people to see your product when they are in a good mood. So, while this isn’t a $100,000 car or a luxury watch, 7-Eleven needs to sell these bad boys and this show has them appear time and time again in interesting and natural ways. 

Why this product placement is the best: The straw! These drinks always have a big straw sticking out of them like it’s begging us to take a huge… you guessed it… gulp. I mean, you can almost taste the ice cold bubbly goodness cause that straw is so damn inviting. That is details people. Make sure your product is real. Like people use it. So they buy it as real and then buy it for real.

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Sex Lives of College Girls – Product Placement

Sex Lives of College Girls – Product Placement

When you have words like sex, college and girls in a show title you’re going to get attention. It’s no wonder this show has a lot, and we mean A LOT of integrations. So, this mention is here out of sheer numbers. We won’t go into each in detail but just look at this list, then quadruple it and you’re in the neighborhood of how robust this placement is. 

  • Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
  • Pepperidge Farm Goldfish
  • LaCroix
  • Bubly Sparking Water
  • Dell
  • Cheez-It Crackers
  • Apple iMac
  • Louis Vuitton
  • Miller Lite
  • JansSport Backpacks
  • Fiji Water

Why this product placement is the best? Simple, there’s something in it for everyone. High-end, retro, cool, munchable… when you just go for it, and do it right, you fall into a world that everyone lives in these days: Chalk full of stuff. So, well done team.

In a pretty rough year for production, 2021 did pretty well for integrations. That is good news for both brands and all genres and platforms of entertainment. This business inside the business is here to stay. We’ve seen that all brads find a place in every possible way. Small brands in big movies. Understated products in blockbusters. The creativity and opportunity is massive. It’s no longer something marketing departments, marketing executives and advertising agencies do as an extra bonus for traditional advertising. This is now a must. HOLLYFY lowers the barriers and roadblocks to get started or make big deals. We streamlines the process with marketing technology that matches you, connects you and teaches you. So, use these examples to inspire you and direct you. Let’s go. GO HOLLYFY.

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