if it walks like a duck...

Now here's an interesting product placement matchup:  Aflac and Lemony Snicket.  Not only will Aflac ads contain scenes from the "Series of Unfortunate Events," (get it?) but movie will actually have a scene with the quacking duck...though he won't be squawking the brand name.  Here's Laura Kane, Aflac's veep of corp comm:

“We think it’s the first time an insurance company's done product placement,” Kane said. “We don't have an actual product; we're selling a promise. We think this takes product placement to a whole new level.”

Indeed, IMDB has the movie's entry correctly listing Gilbert Gottfried as the voice of the Aflac duck.

Comments

[Jonathan Peterson]

I HATE, HATE, HATE product placement in films. But while I haven't seen Lemony Snicket yet, this placement is clever and doesn't seem to detract from the film at all. Comparing this to Michael J. Fox ordering a "Pepsi Free" from the soda fountain in Back to the Future is left as an exercise for the reader.

[Rose]

The worst ad placement I've ever seen was in the movie 'Twister.' The entire movie is one big Dodge Ram commerical ... and of course, even a tornado can't even take down a Ram