Apple tops movie product placement charts

Tina Fey on 30 Rock with her not-so-discreet MacBook
Tina Fey on 30 Rock with her not-so-discreet MacBook

There's nothing like a piece of overt product placement to remove you from those intense cinematic moments and think 'Oh look, he's got an iPhone 4 now, he must have upgraded.'

Well, somewhat unsurprisingly, Apple has been crowned the undisputed king of the unecessarily long and distracting close-up shot of a name-brand product featuring in hit movies in 2010.

In the 33 films that topped the US box charts last year, 30 per cent of them featured MacBooks, iPhones, iPods or other items from the Cupertino-company's photogenic range of gadgety goodness.

Apple beat-out hot competition from Nike, Chevrolet and Ford who tied for second place with 24 per cent coverage. Dell and Sony slipped to featuring in just 15 per cent of top movies in 2010.

A decade of dominance

But Apple's attempts to not-so-subliminally tell us that we need the same MacBook as Shia LaBeouf in order to be cool isn't a new phenomenon.

BrandChannel, which released the research, says that between 2001 and 2010, the famous Apple logo has featured in 114 of the 334 flicks to claim the number one spot.

Fascinatingly, the 2010 mark is down from 2008 when Apple goodies featured in a half of the top movies that year.

What's your favourite instance of product placement in a movie? We can't see past Will Smith busting out a pair of "Converse All-Stars, vintage 2004" in the 90 minute commercial otherwise known as iRobot.

Let us know your favourites in the comments section below...

Chris Smith

A technology journalist, writer and videographer of many magazines and websites including T3, Gadget Magazine and TechRadar.com. He specializes in applications for smartphones, tablets and handheld devices, with bylines also at The Guardian, WIRED, Trusted Reviews and Wareable. Chris is also the podcast host for The Liverpool Way. As well as tech and football, Chris is a pop-punk fan and enjoys the art of wrasslin'.