I'm sure you've heard of (and seen) product placement in movies and TV. Now it's spreading to writing. Procter & Gamble made a deal with the authors of Cathy's Book, a teen novel. Along with the teen-age angst, readers will be finding out about Cover Girl's Shimmering Onyx eye shadow and Metallic Rose lipstick.
As I was sipping my can of Red Bull, I realized this is the continuation of a trend, not a first: novelist Fay Weldon had a deal with Bulgari and Carole Matthews with Ford to promote the Fiesta in her novel. Electrolux actually commissioned a book called Men in Aprons, about a man who has to figure out how to do the housekeeping when his girlfriend leaves him. (I imagine he drank a can of Red Bull whenever the work got tough.) There's no mention of Electrolux in the text, but one of their machines is on the cover. Oh, look at the clock, time to stop writing and have a refreshing can of Red Bull...
(note to Red Bull representative: please contact me re address to which to send the case)
