Forward Thinkers Push Reverse Product Placement

"NEW YORK -- Homer Simpson's drink of choice, Duff Beer, doesn't exist in the real world. Imagine if it did.

That's the idea behind reverse product placement. While traditional product placement refers to integrating a real brand into a fictional environment, an idea that's gaining traction is to create a fictional brand in a fictional environment and then release it into the real world.

Examples are few, but include the restaurant chain Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., which is based on Paramount's 1994 movie Forrest Gump; Nestlé's Willie Wonka candy brand; and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, a candy that until 2001 existed only in the world of Harry Potter. A more recent example is Potion, a drink that first appeared only in Square Enix's videogame Final Fantasy but was released by beverage maker Suntory in Japan last year."

More at brandweek.com