Product placement in films works through licensing agreements between brands and film producers. Brands pay film producers to feature their products in movies in exchange for promotional exposure. This is negotiated through a product placement agent who pitches brands to producers. Agreements can involve brands providing free products, cash payments, or promotional partnerships. Benefits include low-cost marketing for brands and additional funding for film producers. Examples show product placements can significantly boost brand awareness and sales when integrated appropriately into film storylines.

1. Product Placement: Licensing
Brands for Film
Tara Souders

2. Fun Facts
Hollywood Branded. (2017, April 1). Promotions and Licensing. Retrieved from https://hollywoodbranded.com/movie-licensing-productions/

3. How Does Licensing
Work?
In most cases, the big brands that want
to be placed pay a big chunk of money
to be in a movie. This money value is
basically the licensing agreement.
It is actually someone’s job (product
placement agent) to seek out
producers/filmmakers to persuade
them to use their product. They will
confront a producer with either a
release form, cash, promotion deal, or
a freebie deal (Litwak, 2020).
Serrano, K. (2018, January 18). Does Product Placement Work? Retrieved from
https://www.partisanadvertising.co.nz/advertising-blog/does-product-placement-work

4. How Does Licensing Work? (cont.)
• Release Form: this is an already written up form giving the producer the
right/permission to use the product
• Freebie: an agent will provide a bulk of their product or lend an expensive
product such as a car for the producers to use for free/for the duration of filming
• Promotion: the product will sell promotional items in return of exposure
• Cash: this is when the product company pays the producer for the placement
• (Litwak, 2020)

5. Benefits and Tips
• Make sure to choose/agree to products that
make sense in the situation. You don’t want
to leave a bad impression of a product in
your film. This would be a violation of the
Lanham Act, specifically 15 U.S.C.A. §
1125(a)(1) (Admin, 2018).
• Choose/agree to a product that ties into your
target market. Don’t choose a Bud Light
beer can for product placement if your movie
is rated G.
• A key benefit from product placement is the
low budget marketing. If a product
placement agent confronts you, you may not
pay much for marketing your own film.
Trendjackers Team. (2018, December 11). 7 Genius Examples of Product Placement in TV & Cinema.
Retrieved from https://trendjackers.com/7-genius-examples-of-product-placement/

6. Example
• Let’s say I am the product placement agent for Starbucks. My goal is to
raise our brand awareness and increase sales of a featured drink. I have a
budget of $100,000 to work with a producer of a large film. I will choose to
pay the producer of the movie for “Grown Ups 3” to use my featured drink.
With this payment, I agree with the producer specific terms that they must
use the product and brand in a positive way. The details of this placement
would have an actor driving through a Starbucks drive-thru, ordering the
drink, mentioning that they need caffeine to start their day, and then
receiving the drink and showing their pleasure of the drink.

7. Real-life Examples
In E.T., a
bag of
Reese’s
Pieces
was
shown
and it
increased
Hershey’
s sales
by 65%
(Accion,
2020)
Trendjackers Team. (2018, December 11). 7 Genius Examples of Product Placement in TV & Cinema. Retrieved from
https://trendjackers.com/7-genius-examples-of-product-placement/
https://images.app.goo.gl/bCciKhVExCqdLmALA
https://images.app.goo.gl/PmxgCig3kynwrRSV9

8. Sources
Accion. (n.d.). Product Placement: Why It Matters and How to Get It. Retrieved February 26, 2020, from
https://us.accion.org/resource/product-placement-why-it-matters-and-how-get-it/
Admin. (2018, November 8). Home. Retrieved from https://kerrylawpllc.com/the-legal-implications-benifits-of-product-
placement-in-motion-pictures-and-television/
Hollywood Branded. (2017, April 1). Promotions and Licensing. Retrieved from https://hollywoodbranded.com/movie-
licensing-productions/
Litwak, M. (n.d.). Movie Merchandising. Retrieved February 26, 2020, from https://www.marklitwak.com/movie-
merchandising.html
Movie Merchandising. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.marklitwak.com/movie-merchandising.html
Serrano, K. (2018, January 18). Does Product Placement Work? Retrieved from
https://www.partisanadvertising.co.nz/advertising-blog/does-product-placement-work
Trendjackers Team. (2018, December 11). 7 Genius Examples of Product Placement in TV & Cinema. Retrieved from
https://trendjackers.com/7-genius-examples-of-product-placement/

9. © 2020 Tara Souders
https://images.app.goo.gl/ezzH88WU9R5zrcTx7