Movie & TV sell-outs: When tech product placements go bad

By Ian Morris on 23 June 2008, 3:22pm

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24: Cisco and HP
It's fair to say that 24 has given Cisco some great publicity. Firstly, that damn ringtone everyone has on their phone, and insists on calling the 24 ringtone, is actually from a Cisco IP phone. But hey, no one is going to remember that are they? After all, most normal people don't know what Cisco is.

This didn't stop it being involved in possibly the most ludicrous and embarrassing example of product placement in living memory. A hacker tried to gain access to CTU's computer systems and Chloe says not to worry, "The Cisco system is self-defending." With a straight face.

Unlike most government departments, CTU seems incredibly well financed. Every year (sorry, 'day') they take all their high-tech and ludicrously expensive computers and throw them away, replacing them with entirely new ones. The sceptical among you might argue that it's because new sponsorship deals are done each year, with HP being the most recent in a long line of corporate sponsors from Apple to Alienware.