At the same time as the tobacco industry has characteristically denied active involvement in entertainment programming, beforehand secret tobacco industry documents made possible in the USA show that the industry has had a long and strong relationship with Hollywood. Placing tobacco products in films and on television, encouraging celebrity use and endorsement, advertising in entertainment oriented magazines, designing advertising campaigns to reproduce Hollywood’s glamour, and sponsoring entertainment oriented events have all been part of the industry’s relationship with the entertainment sphere.

Product placement can be used in books (especially novels) and video games, for example, Crazy Taxi, which featured several real retail stores as game destinations. Nevertheless, sometimes the economics are reversed, and video game makers pay for the rights to make use of real sports teams and players.

Product placement can be noticed as a modern version of the exhibit displays seen at world’s fairs, performances, sporting events, or anywhere that huge numbers of potential consumers gathered.

As of the year 2007, product placement in online-video is becoming to be more and more ordinary. Online agencies are specializing in linking online-video producers, which are typically individuals, with brands and advertisers

Occasionally, product usage is negotiated more than paid for. Some placements offer productions with below-the-line savings, with goods such as props, clothes and automobiles being loaned for the production’s use, by this means saving them purchase or rental fees.