More big screen product placements

Brandweek has published an article highlighting Orbitz as a product placement in Blades of Glory. The movie stars Will Ferrell and Jon Heder as rival figure skaters that are banned from the sport of singles' figure skating. They discover a loophole in which the two set aside their hatred of each other and become the first male/male figure skating pair in history.

Orbitz is featured as the sponsor of the Montreal Winter Sports Games. The online travel agency gets camera time during the "telecast" of the games and also receives a mention from one of the anchors.

But Orbitz isn't the only product placement throughout the movie. Blades of Glory features more product placements than I can count on my fingers and toes. If you happen to see the movie, opening this weekend, see how many product placements you can catch out of the following brands: Orbitz, Skittles, Capri Sun, Captain Morgan rum, XBox360, Subway, Crest, Verizon, Trim Spa, Foot Locker, Nationwide, Robeks, Philips, Puma, adidas, Dunkin Donuts, Kellogg's, 7-Eleven, Google, Trojan and Posturepedic.

It'll be a challenge, but see how many you can spot!

I think this movie has gone a little far. People are going to start getting annoyed with the way marketers are shoving their brands in their faces. Movies are supposed to be a way to escape the outside world, but product placements bring that world and all the pressures of the media back in. I think it'll be fine as long as movies don't get carried away as Blades of Glory may have done.

What are your opinions? Do you think product placements have gone overboard in the movie?