The name is Bond, James Bond. And he likes his Martinis shaken, not stirred. That is, as long as they are Smirnoff.

Product placement is playing an increasingly significant role in Hollywood blockbusters. The last Bond film bore a string of high-end sponsors, such as Omega, Sony, Ford and Sony Ericsson. Television shows have also lured advertisers, often preferring product placement or sponsorship over traditional advertising.

It is common in the United States, where shows such asExtreme Make-over: Home Edition would not exist without the backing of Sears, the department store chain. Hit shows such as Desperate Housewives often make millions of dollars from product placement deals.

In an early episode, a hard-up Gabrielle, played by Eva Longoria, took a job promoting a Buick LaCrosse car, for which Buick’s maker, General Motors, paid more than $1 million. Advertisers in Britain hope that eventually, after a European Union directive on broadcasting issues late last year, pints of Boddingtons could be served inCoronation Street’s Rovers Return and cans of Pepsi could be sipped on Britain’s Got Talent.

Television sponsorship has become a huge market in Britain. This year, Pedigree, the pet-food unit of Mars, became the first company to fully fund a television programme on ITV. The move has been seen as a precursor to widespread product placement on commercial television in Britain.

ITV said at the time that it was in talks with 30 advertisers to fund fully a range of productions.

The expectation is that television advertising will become more about the 30-minute sponsored advertisement than the 30-second slot.

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