Product placement in television and movies is an advertising tool that has been used for as long as both have been made; by the 2010s, James Bond movies had an average of 30 product placements per movie. Impressive. The societal shift from cable television to streaming services, where 20% of your airtime is traditionally not taken up by ads, has forced advertising companies and marketing divisions to become more creative. And they have succeeded. As of January 2024, Amazon’s Prime began inserting commercial breaks into their streaming services. Of course, you are welcome to opt out. For an additional $2.99 (CAD). Books have traditionally been somewhat sacrosanct in that they have largely escaped the inundation of ads. Yet, much to many a bibliophile’s dismay, this trend of product placement has succeeded in infiltrating the literary world as of late, particularly within the realm of commercial fiction.
It would be easy to condemn the author and publisher for selling their souls to the proverbial Devil for this contemptible and mutinous act which, some may say, only serves to defile the sanctity of the literary world. Setting strong feelings aside, perhaps this promotional technique is actually a bit of a nod to the authority of the written word, to the power of influence the literary world has on Western society