The Financial Times had an interesting article in its House and Home section today about “design-aware interiors” (love that phrase) in movies. The big news, to me, isn’t that there are designer products in feature films, it’s that most manufacturers are not aggressively pursuing movie producers to get their products placed there.
The impetus for the FT article is, of course, the upcoming James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. Set decorator Anna Pinnock and production designer Dennis Gassner made all of the approaches to suppliers themselves.
This means that as of this moment, most interiors we see on the wide screen reflect the purest vision of the designers and directors.
That’s pretty remarkable. Film is an art form, after all – even high-grossing blockbusters such as the Bond series – and we should appreciate any artistic expression uninfluenced by outside concerns.
The article says that although this kind of product placement is expected to grow (the 2002 Bond film, Die Another Day evidently garnered $70 million from such deals) the interior products industry is slower on the uptake than others.
“Brand integration” expert Simon Ritterband explains, “unlike Coca-Cola, there’s no instant recognisable branding of furniture, upholstery fabric or wallpaper and if companies don’t see an instant return they won’t put money behind it.”
However (he continues), these companies are slowly realizing that accompanying marketing campaigns could be reason enough to throw their hat – rather, their chair, desk or lamp – into the product placement ring.
But will that be a good thing?
Marketing campaigns are one thing. But what if movies became so dependent on product placement that they compromise their artistic objectives? A character having breakfast at a Saarinen Tulip table connotes one thing; 
eating at a Pottery Barn Montego table connotes another.
Of course, some sensible people may never be impressed by a cinematic pedigree. A showroom rep. recently insisted that I tell my clients that the Robert Abbey lamp they were considering was featured in the Sex & The City Movie.
Luckily, they bought it anyway.
Thank you, In Design Live, for those two gorgeous pictures of the B&B Italia Maxalto collection featured in Quantum of Solace. The picture of M at her desk is from the FT article. And by the way, don’t you love the black coffered ceiling in the top picture? It’s easier to pull that off if you’re a secret agent.