Product Placement originated as the law in Germany concerning the ban of cigarette advertisements
in newspapers, magazines and on the internet came into force. The work combines the topic of the
ban with the idea of Product Placement. Since the ban, which also forbids the sponsoring of
border-crossing events such as the Formula One races, companies have invented new strategies
to bypass this regulation. Graphic arts are employed which imitate the company’s logo without the
company’s name, in other instances special editions come into practice. These strategies follow
the rules of Product Placement rather closely. Therefore, I intended to stage a subtle intervention,
a legal Product Placement, to test the viewing habit of the consumer. I chose the paradox of staging
three “advertisments” – of camel, marlboro, and gauloise – for a public space, the last space where
cigarette advertisements are still permitted. Clearly, Product Placement doesn’t mimic the strategies
of actual product placement, but rather examines the ritual significance of posters in public spaces.