When Skyfall hit cinemas last year many fans wasted no time airing their views on the use of shameless product placement. However despite what people think it isn’t a new phenomenon. One of the earliest uses of product placement dates back to the Jules Verne novel Around the World in 80 Days, printed in 1873. It is unknown however if Mr. Verne was paid for the products he wrote about. But either way both advertisers and companies soon began to realise the potential in marketing to the masses.

The advent of cinema simply gave advertisers a wider audience than the printed word. In the early days of the silver screen films lasted for a few minutes and were seen as nothing more than a novelty fairground attraction. Ironically it is these short films which were best suited to product placement. Leon Gurevitch,  Director of the Culture and Context Programme at Wellington University, New Zealand, argues these early short films prove the relationship between film makers and advertisers is a lot more complex and intertwined than previously thought. He even suggests that the birth of modern cinema was not down to technological advances alone but the fact the new medium allowed advertisers to reach new audiences like never before and thus gave film makers the financial support they needed.

Man’s Favorite Sport?

One of the most effective forms of product placement is the incorporation of products into a film known as brand integration. The earliest example of this dates back to the 1964 Rock Hudson film Man’s Favourite Sport? which featured a scene set in an Abercrombie and Fitch store. One of the easiest forms of product placement is brand integration which is achieved via a characters costume and is often used by watch makers to sell their latest watch to the masses. While James Bond is most famously associated with Rolex and OMEGA, there are other watch brands out there that have realised the potential in teaming up with the latest blockbuster.

Men In Black

In the Will Smith franchise Men in Black all MIB agents wear a version of the Hamilton Ventura. When Men in Black 3 was released last year Hamilton released a brand new Ventura model which was used as a way of demonstrating the changes between the past and the present in the films time travel plot, which in the words of Hamilton ‘help evoke different eras’ with Will Smith wearing the brand new Ventura XXL and Josh Brolin wearing the Ventura Medium.

Man of Steel

Warner Bros new Superman film Man of Steel has teamed up with the Dutch watch company TW Steel, who have become the film’s official UK watch partner and have made the TW415 from the companies recently launched Pilot collection the official watch of the film. TW Steel’s brand manager Mark Ryder said:  “When the opportunity arose to partner with the film, it was an offer we couldn’t possibly turn down. TW Steel is a perfect fit for the Man of Steel movie and what better platform from which to launch the all-new TW Steel Pilot watches?”

While the movie has yet to be released it’s pretty obvious what watch Superman’s alter ego Clark Kent will be wearing on his wrist this summer. Watches in movies don’t only allow watch brands to increase their sales they are also a way of allowing the film makers to use a form of visual shorthand to communicate a character’s social status, personality and in the case of Men in Black 3 even different periods in time.

Whether we like it or not product placement is here to stay but it’s not always a bad thing and in the case of watches many fans welcome the chance to own a version of the watch used in their favourite film. After all while most film characters have life styles beyond the means of us mere mortals, most people can and do aspire to own the watch their hero wears.

This article was written and contributed by Stephanie Potter of The Watch Hut