Original version

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Radio

World Service Radio

The Food Chain

Factual: Food & Drink

Examining what it takes to put food on your plate

The Food Chain examines the business, science and cultural significance of food, and what it takes to put food on your plate.

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service News Internet

The Food Chain: Is Product Placement Getting in Your Face?

Magazines & Reviews

Product placement: Are we being overfed?

17/01/2019 GMT

Is Product Placement Getting in Your Face?

BBC World Service - The Food Chain, Is Product Placement Getting in Your Face?

When a cool character cracks open a can of a well-known branded drink on screen, do you barely notice or roll your eyes? Whatever your reaction, their choices may well be influencing yours. 

Food is a powerful narrative device in film and product placement is highly lucrative. Put the two together and show business becomes big business for the food industry. 

Emily Thomas finds out how the product placement of food in film has changed over time and where it’s headed, as new technology makes it ever easier for audiences to avoid traditional forms of advertising. She meets industry insiders from Hollywood in the US, Bollywood in India, and Nollywood in Nigeria, to explore how food product placement changes across the globe, and asks how it can enhance and detract from the authenticity of film. What comes first, the brand or the integrity of the script? What happens when they clash? And how much money is at stake?

Plus, we ask how the prolific use of product placement in Hollywood changed global perceptions of American food; how it affects our diet choices and... do baddies ever get to eat brands?

(Photo: Cinema screen shows superhero character eating burger. Credit: BBC)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Food Chain

Is Product Placement Getting in Your Face?

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service

About BBC World Service