Apple Rejects Notion that They Pay for Placement

5% of computers in America are Apple brand.

Someone from a foreign country would probably put that percentage much higher if they got their information from watching Hollywood. It seems that Apple is featured as product placement at a much higher frequency than exists in real life. 24, Sex and the City, The Office, CSI, CSI:NY, and Las Vegas all featured Apple brand products in their shows. A recent Nielsen Media Research report found that Apple was used an astronmical 25o times in the past four months on prime time television.

The only discrepency in all this? That Apple denies paying for placement. According to insider Tim Bajarin at Creative Strategies, Apple was one of the first technology firms using paid product placement and hired a firm to find opportunities for them. Apples usually create notions that the characters using them are creative. In some shows, there are different brands used for the good and the bad guys.

The fact is, Apple is becoming more linked to Hollywood since owner Steve Jobs joined the board of the Walt Disney Corp. and iTunes began featuring ABC shows. The real question is: How far can one push the envelope into advertising before it becomes advertising?