Filmgoers may not remember it. but actor Macaulay Culkin used a Visa card to check into New York's Plaza Hotel in "Home Alone II."
Another child actor uses Visa a pizza in the upcoming John Grisham thriller, "The Client."
Actor Harrison Ford provides his Visa number to make a charge over the phone in "Clear and Present Danger." based on the Tom Clancy novel.
And if viewers watch closely, they can catch snippets of Visa products in "The Beverly Hillbillies," "The Paper," and "New Age."
With major Hollywood releases typically reaching some 100 million people on the big screen and on video, it's no surprise companies like Visa that like to be in the public eye make their products available as props.
Some companies pay thousands of dollars each year for what is known in the trade as product placement.
In the Public Eye
"Product placement creates realism in a movie," said Terri Guitron, vice president, sales and marketing for Creative Entertainment Services Inc. in Burbank. Calif. "Producers don't want to use generic-type products and sophisticated viewers want to see real things."
"For us, it reinforces the Visa brand or message," said a spokesman for the San Francisco-based card association. "It's a good, very subtle way to get the message out]. Ten seconds in Home Alone 11' is well worth the small amount of money spent each year."
Saying |No' to |E.T.'
A classic example of product placement was the use of Reese's Pieces in "E.T.," which caused sales of the candies to skyrocket. Since the maker of M&Ms had first crack at "E.T." and turned it down, it became a cautionary lesson to other product placers.
Among more recent potential coups, Taco Bell may get a boost from its placement in the futuristic flick, "Demolition Man."
For the past eight years, Visa has enlisted Creative Entertainment to help place its products in motion pictures and television programs.
While Visa may not have gained the prominence of Reese's Pieces, its products have played a pivotal role in some movies.
For example. Melanie Griffith's character sifts through confidential papers and finds a Visa card and travelers checks that help her catch the con artist played by Michael Keaton in "Pacific Heights."
Looking for the Right Scripts
Creative Entertainment reviews hundreds of scripts each year and runs a software program to determine which ones will be the most suitable for Visa placement.
The agency acts as an intermediary between Visa and the production company. Once a placement is made, Visa issues a card with the character's name on it. Creative Entertainment tracks the "live" card during production and destroys it upon completion of the film.
The agency's duties do not end there. For example, during the filming of "The Client" in New Orleans. the studio changed the main character's name. The company made a quick call to Creative Entertainment, which called Visa. In two days. Visa had provided a new card with the new character's name.
Positive Exposure Sought
Creative Entertainment looks for maximum, positive exposure for its clients, which include Mazda, Beech Aircraft, Texas Instruments, and Hershey Foods.
Visa seeks "to have real-life experiences highlighted," Ms. Guitron said. On television, Visa has been mentioned on "Northern Exposure," "Fresh Prince of Bel Air," "Home Improvement," and "Picket Fences," among other shows.
"Compared to other cards, Visa's been the most consistent, more aggressive" in getting products placed, Ms. Guitron said.
The Competition
New York-based MasterCard International and American Express Travel Related Services Inc. have been less active in product placement, but their brands do appear.
This fall, MasterCard has been on a futuristic television program, "Time Trax." The main character uses his MasterCard as a passport between the future and the present.
DeWitt Media Inc. in New York occasionally advises MasterCard on placement, including on "Time Travel" said Valerie Muller, executive vice president and media director.
A MasterCard spokesman said the association is keen on preventing bad product placements. The same can be said of American Express, which reviews scripts and considers placement requests from studios, but does not pay to have its products placed.
American Express has been placed in movies such as "Like Father, Like Son," with Dudley Moore and Kirk Cameron, and "Romancing the Stone," an adventure movie that showed, its travelers checks.
Upstanding Image
American Express wants to make sure products are properly used by characters who represent typical cardholders - successful. upstanding citizens who use the product wisely, a company spokeswoman said.
In fact, American Express does not permit fraudulent use in films, for example, if a character uses a stolen card or travelers checks to make purchases.
But American Express and Visa don't seem to mind a comedic spin. Both are seen in "Addams Family Values." When Joan Cusak's gold-digging nanny character is electrocuted and disintegrates, all that's left when the smoke clears are American Express and Visa Gold cards.
Product placement is "a big deal" to clients whose products are perceived at parity, said Ms. Muller, referring to credit cards. "It is showing the product at its best. It almost doesn't matter how it's being used."
