Lately, I've been playing an Xbox 360 game called Bionic Commando. I love it. I've recommended it to several people, and the one's who tried it gave me extremely odd criticisms. It did have it's share of flaws, clunky swinging mechanics, long loading times and many more, but an awful lot of my friends brought up product placement.

So that brings me to my point; Product placement is good. Sound crazy? Let me elaborate:

In Bionic Commando, there's quite a bit of product placement in the game, most of it being Pepsi related things like Pepsi machines and scattered Pepsi cans. While I do understand why some people may hate this, I was quite fond of it. For me, it makes the world more real, because post-nuclear wastelands may very well have Pepsi machines still standing. Although they were the ONLY thing left standing with a brand name and they kinda suck because you cant throw them at enemies.

Here's a better example; Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. It was a great film. In the scene where they're trying to go down a guarded hallway without being seen, they use an iPad to scan the room and make a holographic copy which they project on some hi-tech screen. I heard mutters throughout the theater of "shameless product placement" and "Ooh, they really needed a sponsor didn't they?" but it was really effective for me. If he brought out some spy gadget that some guy just made up on the top of his head, it requires you're suspension of disbelief to expand somewhat to believe that the gadget might exist. But iPads DO exist and they are technically capable of recognizing faces and movement and projecting an image onto a screen accordingly. It IS possible for this to exist, and the fact that an iPad is used makes you wonder if maybe a spy is in the theater right now using one to sneak up on you and assassinate you.

Okay, maybe that's a bit of a stretch, and there are a lot of BAD ways to promote a product. Video games like Pepsiman on the Playstation and that creepy Burger King 360 game are good examples, as the advertising shifts its way into the front seat, and really starts getting in the way. When an actor just USES Mountain Dew, that's great, but as soon as he opens his fat mouth and says "MMMM I SURE DO LUV MOUNTAIN DEW LOL" it ruins the effect and starts to piss you off.

So just remember that product placement can be good, don't try and make it get in the way. It makes the developers money, the sponsors themselves probably get a sales boost from people trying to start up an indie spy business, and most of all, it can be more believable for YOU as long as you don't focus on it. So it's good all around, eh?

If you disagree, go ahead and leave a comment. But please if you do, pretend you have a brain.