Abstract
Product placement is the business process that seamlessly inserts an advertiser's commercial message into various entertainment and informational media vehicles (movies, videos, television programs, radio shows, newsletters, books, etc.) as an indigenous part of the story line. This paper presents an analysis of the controversy surrounding British novelist Fay Weldon's decision to accept financing from the famed Italian jewelry company Bulgari to prominently mention the firm and its products in her 2001 book, a fast-paced social comedy. The contract specified at least 12 mentions. However, in an interesting twist, Weldon decided to feature Bulgari prominently in the plot and incorporate the company name in the title. The Bulgari Connection(U.S. distributor, Grove/Atlantic) is believed by many to be “the first major novel containing paid product placement,” although other books with commercial tie-ins predate it.
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