
It starts to get a little gratuitous if everyone in the work, good or bad, drinks the same brand of beer, though. This can occasionally be Truth in Television, since people who enjoy a given product are naturally more likely to say good things about it and/or recommend it to their friends - and, of course, it's not uncommon to name-drop brands in day-to-day conversation (see the genericizing of Coke and Band-Aid, despite the latter's best efforts). note Although the brand was resurrected by several short-lived airlines, one of which was active in 2001, and a railway, the original world-famous airline went bankrupt in 1991.) It can also backfire in the case of a 20 Minutes into the Future production that happens to feature a product or brand that in real life ceased to exist by the time the production was set (a prime example being Pan Am, an airline featured prominently in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which ceased to exist by the time the real 2001 rolled around. Product placement is, at least most of the time, though there have been instances of company logos being digitally blurred out for things such as television broadcasts of movies, if the sponsoring company didn't pay for the additional product placement in these broadcasts. After all, the commercials that aired on the original broadcast aren't retained in any of these. With reruns, DVD and downloads, this can be the gift that keeps on giving for advertisers. The least subtle version of this kind of embedded advertising is the Enforced Plug, which, in America, was common in early television (when the commercials literally were considered more important than the programming) and still is in radio. On the other hand, even when it begins with the best intentions, contractual obligations to have the dialogue actually mention a placed product can easily turn malignant.
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Plus some filmmakers striving for as much realism as possible would rather use recognizable products than Brand X. Or a world set 20 Minutes into the Future won't have suddenly lost the culture of billboard advertisements and product logos which defines the modern day.

This trope isn't always invoked for mercenary reasons many times it's just more realistic for someone to be in a shopping mall and walk past actual brands rather than unnamed Brand X. The manufacturer hopes to cause The Red Stapler effect, but it far more often results in snarky comments from the peanut gallery. The practice of prominently displaying or talking about a recognizable product in a program, in exchange for some consideration from the manufacturer, usually monetary.

Otherwise known as a "plug" or "writing commercials right into a show". Opening screen for Ken Block's GYMKHANA TWO: THE INFOMERCIAL, shamelessly lampshading the phenomenon note This was his first Gymkhana video produced in association with DC Shoes, an apparel brand that Block cofounded.
