Imagine a picture of your product featured in a news story… worldwide…
…because it was part of dinner on the International Space Station (ISS).
Minnesota-based Hormel Foods, famous for their SPAM® (and SPAM Museum), did just that.
But it was their pepperoni that was featured (not their SPAM).
Talk about taking your PR and promotions into the stratosphere.
Space-Age Pizza Party
A now-viral photo shows astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams enjoying some well-earned culinary comfort during their unexpected nine-month stay aboard the ISS. One is assembling a pizza while the other looks on, and right there, front and center, is a familiar red package: Hormel pepperoni.
Also clearly visible is a bag of Nuts.com snacks, but the Hormel branding is unmistakable — and undeniably well-placed.
This, my friends, is what we call product placement — in orbit.
Let’s put this in perspective. These astronauts weren’t just in any remote location — they were floating 250 miles above Earth. And in the middle of the most remote kitchen in the solar system, Hormel Pepperoni is the featured pizza topping.
You can’t buy that kind of PR… or can you?
Well, sometimes yes, sometimes no. And it all depends on your product, your timing, and your ability to either pay or persuade.
My Own Product Placement Days
In the early 2000s, when I worked with Penta Water, a premium bottled water brand based in Carlsbad, California, one of my responsibilities was product placement.
We had some incredible wins. I managed to get Penta Water featured in the premiere season of NBC’s reality TV show, “The Biggest Loser” — for free.
Penta was prominently placed during workouts and weigh-ins. But when season two rolled around, NBC saw the value of our placement and charged us $10,000.
We were also fortunate to land free placements in various cable TV movies and on shows like “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” We had other product placements when production companies were just happy to have quality hydration for the actors and crew.
But just beware. The more high-profile the outlet, the more valuable the placement — and the increased likelihood there’ll be a fee associated with it.
What Makes Hormel’s Placement So Remarkable?
I’m fairly certain this wasn’t a paid campaign. It’s highly unlikely NASA is inking promotional deals with snack brands. More likely, Hormel Pepperoni ended up in space because it was:
- Shelf-stable
- Tasty
- Lightweight
- And, well… pizza topping.
In other words, it served a real need — and the astronauts appreciated it. The result? Hormel gets millions in brand exposure, free of charge, just for making a product that’s convenient, enjoyable and “spaceworthy.”
What Is Product Placement, Exactly?
Product placement is a marketing strategy where a brand’s product is featured in a TV show, film, video game, or other media. If you’re really lucky, it can even be integrated as part of the storyline, like Reese’s Pieces in the movie E.T. The goal is a subtle but memorable endorsement — a form of advertising that doesn’t interrupt the experience, but rather blends into it.
There are two main types:
- Paid Placement – This is where a brand pays the production company or media outlet for its product to appear. Think: James Bond’s Omega watches, Coca-Cola in American Idol, or FedEx in Cast Away.
- Prop Placement (Free) – This is where PR or marketing professionals offer free products to production teams in hopes they’ll be used as props—or even better, written into the script. If your product is functional, visually appealing or timely, it might get picked up without a dime spent.
How to Land a Product Placement
If you’ve got a product that photographs well or naturally fits into a setting — whether sports drama, reality show or sci-fi epic — product placement might be worth pursuing.
Here are five important consideration before embarking on product placement:
- Know Your Audience & Medium – Identify which shows, movies or influencers align with your brand values and target demographic.
- Make a Media Target List – Focus on productions that could actually use your product. If you make hiking gear, maybe look at outdoor reality shows or adventure films — not courtroom dramas.
- Offer Free Product to Prop Masters – Studios and production companies often accept freebies to stock their sets. Find the contact info for the prop master or production coordinator, and send a personalized pitch.
- Use a Product Placement Agency – Agencies specialize in this exact service. They maintain relationships with key people in Hollywood and on production sets. They’ll take a cut or charge a fee — but they know how to get your product on screen.
- Track What Happens – If your product is placed, don’t just celebrate — leverage it. Share screenshots, post the clip on your website, and promote it on social media. Turn that exposure into credibility and momentum.
If done right, product placement is one of the most organic forms of advertising — your brand becomes part of a story. When viewers see your product in use by someone they admire or relate to, it feels more authentic than an ad ever could.
Hormel likely didn’t pay to be on the ISS. But by making a product that met a real-world (or real-space) need, they got the kind of attention most brands would dream about.
3 Big Takeaways
- Product placement can be incredibly valuable — sometimes more than traditional ads, in raising awareness of your brand.
- You don’t always have to pay – the right product, placed in the right hands, can be featured organically.
- Is your product “camera-ready”? – then consider reaching out to shows, movies or influencers to explore placement opportunities.
So next time you’re thinking about your marketing mix, don’t overlook what could be your next great moment — in space or on Earth.
Want help figuring out if your product is placement-worthy? Reach out. I’ve been there, done that.
Stay authentic… and when possible take your communications to the stratosphere!
Jeffery E. Pizzino, APR (seen here in a vintage photo circa 1983 serendipitously doing a Clash impersonation in a since-forgotten location) is a spin-free public relations pro who is passionate about telling the why of your story with clarity, impact and authenticity. He began his PR career in 1987 at Ketchum Public Relations in New York City but has spent the majority of his career as a solopreneur. He’s AuthenticityPR’s Chief Authentic Officer and also functions as the fractional CCO for technology startup Converus.
Jeff has an MBA in Management from Western International University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications — with an emphasis in PR — from Brigham Young University. He’s a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but also holds an Italian citizenship. Jeff and his storyteller wife Leticia have four children and four grandchildren. In his extremely limited nonwork hours, he studies italiano, practices guitar, write songs, gardens, disc golfs, reads, listens to New Wave music, serves in his church, watches BYU football, and plays Dominion and Seven Wonders. Email Jeff.
