Today's Times takes note of a burgeoning trend in fiction: product placement. It seems that companies like Procter & Gamble are encouraging writers of young adult novels to mention their products in return for help with marketing and promotion. While the usual voices are trotted out to decry the creeping commercialization of YA literature (God forbid the kids should be subject to subliminal advertising while reading about drug addiction and blowjob parties), we're not exactly sure how new this trend in fact is. (In fact, we sort of remember a humorous Mark Leyner piece in The New Yorker on the subject, oh, about fifteen years ago.) Either way, product placement is here, and everyone's just going to have to get use to seeing ad content in places where it would previously have been unacceptable. Now if you'll excuse us, we're going to go drink some Wild Turkey bourbon. Wild Turkey: It goes down smooth and makes you feel real good. Drink responsibly.

Product Placement Deals Make Leap From Film to Books [NYT]
The Goat at Saks and Other Marketing Tales [NYT]

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