How does the use of common commerical products work in movies/TV?

Question

The use of common commercial trademarks in movies and TV seems very random. Sometimes a character is drinking a Coke, sometimes it's a "Dr. Cola" (fake). Sometimes a MacBook is clearly a MacBook, sometimes it's a MacBook with a sticker placed just so, to cover the emblem.

And as a subquestion, when movies/TV do use a real product, who is paying who? Is the soda company paying for that movie to feature their product, or is it the other way around? (The movie is paying to use that soda company's product) Or is no one paying at all, and there is a fair use exception for common products?

Answer 1

In general, they are all paid advertising.

Product placement - Wikipedia has a lot to say on this topic, dating back to product placement in famous paintings in the 19^th century.

Sylvester Stallone's Rocky films featured heavy product placement. The most obvious example appeared in Rocky III: when Rocky spends time with his young son, he asks him what he wants for breakfast. The boy responds, "Wheaties!" and, at Rocky's prompting, adds that it's "the breakfast of champions!"

But the most blatant example is almost certainly: Wayne's World - Product Placement - YouTube.