Does Product Placement Work?

Morning Joe (a morning news and talk show in the US) is now partnering with a fancy coffee company from Seattle. The brand is mentioned prominently before commercial breaks. The hosts hold large cups of coffee (with the logo) in their hands, and drink from them throughout the show. They even had the CEO come on and talk about how he noticed they drank his coffee and thought it would be a “good fit” and “leverage their brand equity” and a lot of other blather.

Does anyone outside of the TV show and the coffee company really care?

Will this blatant product placement sell more coffee? Does plastering banking logos or sportswear logos on a tennis player really drive anyone to switch banks? Has anyone bought a camera because the brand was on the front of a race car?

Or is it just annoying? I’m annoyed. Are you? Or do you not care one way or the other? Your thoughts?

Mykl Roventine