Can you think of the last time you watched a movie and didn’t see a product placement—that is, a branded product displayed in the scene? While product placements have been around for quite some time, there has been a tremendous increase in their usage in the past few years. And now, they are invading television programs as well.

Exactly when product placements originated is hard to determine, but most marketers agree that the frequency of their use increased significantly with the placement of Reese’s Pieces in the movie E.T. over 20 years ago. Since that time, placements have become so common that some advertisers are concerned that the novelty of the brand exposures has worn off, leading them to be less effective, or—even worse—that they are so common and so obvious that viewers are getting turned off by them. The recent James Bond and Austin Powers movies have so many placements in them that one has to wonder if such movies are created just to promote products.

But instead of cutting back on placements, the advertising industry has now turned to other mediums to get its products shown. For example, the novel The Bulgari Connection, by Fay Weldon, was actually sonamed (at least in part) because an “undisclosed sum” of money was paid to the author by the Italian Bulgari jewelry company. Television has also seen a marked increase in the number of placements. Junior Mints, Calvin Klein, Kenny Roger’s Roasted Chicken, and numerous cereals are just a few of the many brands that have appeared in Seinfeld, with many other products appearing in other shows as well. Budweiser, Mountain Dew, and Doritos have all been in Survivor, Pottery Barn was integrated into the plot in Friends, and Procter & Gamble products are all over Sex and the City. When Unilever launched Cheese Creations sauces, a major promotional effort was expended on radio DJ parties to get the jockeys talking about the products on the air. Nivea did the same thing with its wrinkle-control cream targeted to women, P&G did it with its Downy Wrinkle Releaser spray, and so has Compaq computers. Jeep Wrangler and Liberty are prominently displayed throughout Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 video game, which is extremely popular with males in their 20s.

Is it possible that product placements have gone too far—maybe even bordering on deception? A number of critics think so, arguing that the lines have blurred between content and promotions.They cite the new TV show No Boundaries, a reality-based show in which the contestants drive Ford Boundaries. Ford, whose campaign slogan is “No Boundaries,” helped pay for the show’s production costs. Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert, a nonprofit advertising watchdog group, notes that today’s movies are “being corrupted by commercialization that has mushroomed beyond mere product placement to include script doctoring and related sins.” Ruskin goes on to note: “In movies like Minority Report, you have a bunch of ads with a couple of scenes thrown in, with artistic concerns taking a back seat.” He is particularly perturbed by a film to be released under the title Food Fight, which features brands as characters such as Mr. Clean,Mr. Pringle, and Twinkie the Kid. Even some people in the product placement industry itself are concerned that viewers will see the placements as commercial, infringing on their pleasure of watching. Others are not so concerned, however. Citing the growth of TiVo, the increase in commercial zipping and zapping, and the increasing number of advertisers vying for more time through regular television commercials, they argue that this may be the only way to have one’s product or brand shown in the future. Those assuming this position suggest that you will see even more placements in even more media in the future. So the next time you turn on HBO to get away from the commercials on network TV, pay attention.Who knows, you may see a product placement on Sex and the City (Jabra cell-phone earpieces) or on The Sopranos (Gateway computers)— and maybe you’ll notice and maybe you won’t. Either way, the placement may still work, as some research indicates that products that you do not actually notice may have a greater impact than those that you do.