Mars probably thought that M&M was such a well-established brand name (a genuine American tradition by many measures), that they didn't have to pay for a product placement. Their mistake: they'd become so confident in their position that there were thinking totally offense and forgot about defense. Sometimes, you advertise just to keep your compeditor from getting his name out. A brutal business, eh? A good deal of product placement works this way. The script calls for a character to drink a softdrink. The softdrink is not part of the plot or anything, but the character is going to be holding it. They could just go to the prop department and get a can that says "Cola" on it and use that. Or, they could call up Coke and Pepsi and see who will bid more to have it be one of their cans instead of the generic. It's not the greatest placement, though care will be taken to make sure that the character holds the can in such a way that the logo is clearly visible, but one or the other will usually pay to keep the other from getting the spot. Companies can even pay to have their product written into the script as BMW has done with the Bond films. BTW, we literally got to see Golden Eye (and, therefore, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough) because of BMW.
Anyway, the point here is that even a brief on-screen appearance is valuable. Coke and Pepsi would not pay to have characters on TV shows and in the movies hold their cans if they didn't think it works. Oh, and these big companies are sophisticated advertisers. They don't just "think" it works. They do extensive studies to know what does and doesn't work and they don't continue to spend their money on what doesn't work. So, the fact that they continue to pay for product placements tells us that even a brief on-screen appearance can affect the audience.
Does it work for Knives? Ask the James B. Lile estate.
That Martha Stewart idea might just be "a good thing" for a bladesmith to look into.
This all brings us right back to the questions about the affects of on-screen sex, violence, and immorality.
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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
