Concave Brand Tracking ranks the top 10 most brand-filled movies of 2021 by the amount of product placement value they generated. 
29th March 2022 - Check out our full series of articles recapping product placement in 2021 movies 
Concave Brand Tracking combed through the 50 most-watched 2021 movies, recording every brand that appeared or was mentioned. All but three of those films (DUNE, ENCANTO, and RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON) featured at least one brand. Collectively, these 47 movies generated 2.7 billion dollars for over 1,200 different brands. However, the top 10 most brand-filled movies accounted for nearly 55% of that value. So, in this article, we will look at the ten movies that provided brands with the most product placement value in 2021. 
 
methodology: Concave Brand Tracking product placement valuations are based on the number of brand mentions, screen time, quality of exposure, logo visibility, cost of traditional advertising, and viewership. Audience figures are as of the end of February 2022. 

#10 LOVE HARD – $85M in total product placement value 

The Netflix rom-com featured almost 90 different brands, with 35 being mentioned in the dialogue and over 60 appearing on screen. The film totaled 42 brand mentions and an hour and seven minutes of brand screen time. With an audience of 95 million worldwide, LOVE HARD was worth 85 million dollars in total product placement value. 
 
In terms of mentions, the movie DIE HARD was the biggest winner. It was mentioned four times throughout the movie. Uber was also mentioned three times which helped it be among the most mentioned brands in 2021 films. 
 
The most visible brand was Apple. It had almost 12 minutes of screen time in the form of iPads, Macbooks, and iPhones. AirPods could also be spotted and were mentioned. This was one of the five 2021 movies in which Apple featured verbally, and its overall presence in LOVE HARD was a big part of it being the 3rd most prominent brand in 2021 movies. 
Some of the other most visible brands in LOVE HARD included Patagonia and Nike (both among the top 100 brands of the year), as well as Yuengling, Shake Weight, and LA Sportiva. 

#9 NO TIME TO DIE – $90M in total product placement value 

James Bond is one of the most brand-heavy franchises in cinema history. The mere Bond name brings to mind Omega, Aston Martin, and Bollinger, all of which were present in NO TIME TO DIE. The last Craig Bond film had almost 50 minutes of brand screen time, worth 90 million dollars. 

#8 RED NOTICE – $91M in total product placement value 

With an estimated 232 million viewers, RED NOTICE was the most-watched movie of 2021. As such, it gave the 68 brands it featured 91 million dollars in product placement value. 
 
RED NOTICE showed 52 brands for a total of 28 minutes of screen time, and 19 came up verbally. These brand mentions included Apple, Instagram, and Amazon. All three of these brands were also among the most mentioned of the year. 
 
Mercedes-Benz was the most prominent brand overall in RED NOTICE, followed by Apple, Dell, Porsche, The North Face, and Microsoft. All of these are featured on our top 100 list for 2021. 

#7 VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE – $95M in total product placement value 

VENOM 2 showcased 54 different brands for 41 minutes of screen time. With the film being seen by 159 million people worldwide, it generated 95 million dollars in total product placement value. 
 
By far, the most prominent brand in VENOM was the Detroit Lions. Tom Hardy wore the NFL team’s jacket for over eight minutes in the film, with the logo visible 87% of the time. This single movie appearance was the 6th best integration of the year and enough to make the Detroit Lions the 16th most visible brand in 2021 films. 
The second most visible brand in VENOM 2 was Sony, who also produced the movie. It appeared in the form of radios, TVs, a voice recorder, and phones. This was Sony’s second-biggest product placement movie of 2021, after only SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, in which it was #1. These two films and 16 others contributed to making Sony a top 10 brand overall in 2021 movies. 
Other notable brands in VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE included Ford, Goldtop, Ducati, Ruroc, Apple, and Bremont. All these brands were part of Concave’s top 100 brand list for 2021. 

#6 SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME – $97M in total product placement value 

The viewership figures in this article are for up until the end of February 2022, right before SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME was released digitally. This means that we are only accounting for its theatrical audience here. Based on that alone, it was the 3rd most-watched movie released in 2021. If we made this list in a few months, SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME would undoubtedly be the most-watched film of 2021 due to its post-theatrical audience. 
 
But, despite only accounting for its theatrical views, SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME generated 97 million dollars in product placement value for the 80 brands it showed on screen and the eight in the dialogue. 
 
No other brand was mentioned more than the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which was named-dropped 14 times and also appeared on screen in the form of letters, clothing, and a website. All this made MIT the 54th most prominent brand in 2021 movies. 
As we saw before, Sony was the most visible brand in SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, thanks to the use of its camcorders, TVs, and phones. 
Other brands that got millions of dollars in value from the latest Tom Holland SPIDER-MAN movie included Hyundai, Asus, Chevrolet, Toyota, and Jansport. 

#5 SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY – $151M in total product placement value 

While we’ve looked at the top brand in every film so far on this list, no single brand dominated a movie quite like Nike in SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY. It got almost one and a quarter hours of combined screen time in the Lebron James flick. And with Nike having its logo visible in 92% of this, SPACE JAM 2 provided brands with the highest quality of exposure of any film on this list. Nike got 62% of the 151 million dollars in product placement value SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY created overall. Enough to make it the #1 product placement of the year and in Concave Brand Tracking’s records. In other words, Nike’s placement in SPACE JAM 2 is arguably the most valuable of all time 
AMI, the NBA, Warner Brothers, Carhartt, Beyerdynamic, and Alienware also appeared prominently in SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY. 

#4 THE GUILTY – $174M in total product placement value 

Every other movie on this list contained at least 35 brands either on screen or in the script. But THE GUILTY differs, featuring only 12 brands. This is because the film takes in a single location, which means there is not much diversity in the brands. But those we do see get A LOT of screen time. In fact, THE GUILTY provided two of the most valuable placements of 2021. They were for Dell and Sennheiser, who got 47.5 and 90.4 million dollars in value, respectively. This accounted for 79% of all the value in the film and was due to them both having over 40 minutes of screen time.. 
Sennheiser got more value than Dell thanks to a higher quality of exposure in the form of a headset worn by Jake Gyllenhaal for most of the film. 
Other less prominent brands in THE GUILTY included Apple, Casio, and Genovation. The LA Times, Uber, Airbnb, and BMW were also mentioned. 

#3 FAST & FURIOUS 9 – $199M in total product placement value 

As a franchise centered around cars, the FAST & FURIOUS franchise is unsurprisingly filled with brands. And while auto manufacturers did account for over 50% of the value FAST & FURIOUS 9 generated, electronics, clothing, and alcohol also featured prominently. Overall, 113 different brands were in F9. Over 100 on screen and 15 verbally. 
 
Dodge is by far the most visible brand in F9 and has a long history with the franchise due to its strong link with the character of Dominic Toretto. Dodge in F9 was the 7th best placement of 2021 and worth almost 24 million dollars.. 
Other visible car brands included Chevrolet, Jeep, Ford, Pontiac, and Toyota. 
In terms of non-car brands, F9 featured Microsoft, Dell, Tom Ford, Air Jordan, and Corona, to name just a few. 

#2 FREE GUY – $211M in total product placement value 

FREE GUY featured 117 different product placement brands, more than any other 2021 film. 
 
Given the theme of the Ryan Reynolds movie, many computer brands populated it. These included Razer, Dell, HyperX, LG, HP, etc. 
But the most prominent brand, computer-related and overall, was Alienware. The Dell Technologies sub-brand had over eight minutes of screen time in the form of computers, keyboards, monitors, and laptops. Along with those in NO TIME TO DIE and SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY, this placement made Alienware the 18th most visible brand in 2021 movies. 
FREE GUY also featured many eyewear brands like Ray-Ban, Oakley, Sama Eyewear, Revision, Dita, and Garrett Leight. 
Non-eyewear or video game-related brands that got millions of dollars in value from FREE GUY included Ducati, Casio, and Chevrolet, all of which made the 100 most prominent brands in film list. 

#1 DON’T LOOK UP – $277M 

The main factors that drive a movie’s total product placement value are the number of brands, the screen time, the mentions, the audience, and the quality of exposure. And while DON’T LOOK UP was not #1 in any of these metrics, it was the most consistent. It had the third-most brands, fourth-most screen time, second-most brand mentions, and the second-biggest audience. Its only weakness was having the lowest quality of exposure. This relates to how discernible products are and whether their logos are visible. All in all, this resulted in DON’T LOOK UP, generating 277 million dollars in advertising value. More than any other 2021 film. 
The most mentioned brands were Michigan State University and Xanax. Each got name-dropped five-time. Princeton came up twice, and 16 other brands were in the script once. 
 
The most visible brand was Panther Vision, thanks to Timothée Chalamet wearing one of their Powercaps for almost five minutes. Dell was the second most visible brand in DON’T LOOK UP. These two placements were worth 22.5 million and 22.2 million, respectively, and were among the top 10 of the year. 
Alan Mikli, TCL, Leitner, Michigan State University, Samsung, and Ford were among the top 10 most prominent brands in DON’T LOOK UP, and all made the top 100 brand list for 2021. 
If you would like to know more about our methodology, data, or services-  
 
Please contact us at info@concavebt.com 
 
disclaimer:  
Concave Brand Tracking does work with certain brands mentioned in this article. However, as a market research company, our methodology is entirely objective. Furthermore, we are a third party that provides insights into the presence and portrayal of brands In entertainment. Therefore, we are not directly involved in our client’s strategic planning or the process of coordinating product placements. 
Tagged as: Recurring Reports
Share this post:
Our site uses cookies. For more information, see our cookie policy. Accept cookies and close
Reject cookies Manage settings