The marketing behind Act of Valor, the new box office champ (earning $24.7 million its opening weekend), is the story of a film with an unprecedented amount of cooperation between the U.S. armed forces and filmmakers. "Starring active duty Navy Seals" screams the tagline of the film.

But while the involvement of Navy Seals in starring roles of the film does represent a new boundary in the history of military involvement in Hollywood, the cooperation is by no means much a stretch. It's no secret that the US military frequently works with Hollywood in a mutually beneficial relationship of propaganda and resource access. Act of Valor is just the latest example of a comfy friendship.Continue reading...

Love product placement? Live in New York? Coming soon, the Big Apple is one of a handful of cities that will screen Morgan Spurlock's documentary, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.

Curiously, and probably to Pom Wonderful's dismay, the deal Spurlock struck with the pomegranate-based brand to name the film Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold has not translated, so far, to theater promotions.

Does this somehow void the deal? Who knows. Maybe Spurlock will fill us in when we finally get that interview he promised us.

In the meantime, what's new in product placement in the US and beyond?Continue reading...