The most advertised cars in film and TV revealed
Cars and film and TV go together like avocado on toast, an iconic pairing that satisfies every time. But this pairing doesn’t happen by accident, there are some serious dollars spent to get your favourite set of wheels into the world’s next blockbuster.Whether it's BMW supplying 30 Mini Cooper's for use in Mark Wahlberg's The Italian Job remake or Audi's multi-film deal with Marvel to be Tony Stark’s car of choice, the ties between the entertainment and car industry run deep, but what are the most regularly promoted cars in movies and television? More importantly, how much does it cost?
A new study from money.co.uk analysed almost 50,000 examples of product placement recorded by productplacementblog.com to find the most 'placed' car brands and models on the big and small screen and the movies and TV shows with the highest product placement counts.
Cars appear in films and TV shows all the time, primarily as a mode of transport for the people on screen, and not as an advertising vehicle. The data below outlines times when the cars are involved as paid placement or part of deals brands do with the production studios.
Top 10 most advertised car brands in film and TV
Car brand | Appearances |
Mercedes-Benz | 259 |
Chevrolet | 246 |
Ford | 162 |
Cadillac | 162 |
BMW | 139 |
Land Rover | 136 |
Audi | 130 |
Dodge | 109 |
Range Rover | 104 |
Ferrari | 100 |
Top 10 most advertised car models in film and TV
Model | Appearances |
Mercedes-Benz S-Class | 74 |
Cadillac Escalade | 67 |
Jeep Wrangler | 58 |
Range Rover Sport | 52 |
Chevrolet Suburban | 40 |
Chevrolet Corvette | 40 |
Ford Mustang | 39 |
Porsche 911 | 38 |
Dodge Challenger | 38 |
Dodge Charger | 31 |
Not only does Mercedes-Benz take the crown as the most featured car brand in film and TV, but the S-Class is also the most placed vehicle overall, appearing in 74 features.
Known for luxury and cutting-edge technology the S-Class is one of the world's best-selling luxury sedans and has featured in movies including Tenet and John Wick, as well as the hit TV show Succession.
The second most plugged car brand with 246 placements is American brand Chevrolet with their Suburban, Corvette, and Camaro models all amongst the most regularly featured models.
Since being cast as Bumblebee, the Camaro has become synonymous with the Transformers franchise. Having worked with General Motors on previous films, director Micheal Bay was able to convince the carmaker to let him use a concept version of the fifth-generation Camaro which wouldn’t be available to buy for another two years.
The research also found 162 examples of product placement for Ford vehicles, with the Mustang accounting for almost a quarter (24%) of all appearances.
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Related: Top 10 greatest automotive icons of TV and film according to fans
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