Product placement

Product placement
File:Ando hand out.jpg Ando puts out his hand -- as if to ask for payment -- while a Nissan Versa sits the foreground and Greyhound buses lie the background.
First reference:	One Giant Leap
"Product placement" on Wikipedia

Product placement is a promotional tactic used by marketers in which a real commercial product is used in fictional or non-fictional media, and the presence of the product is a result of an economic exchange. When featuring a product is not part of an economic exchange, it is called a product plug. Product placement also occurs with the inclusion of a brand's logo, or a favorable mention or appearance of a product.

Some real-world products have appeared in the fictional world of Heroes.

Product Appearances by Episode

One Giant Leap

• At the car rental kiosk in the Los Angeles International Airport, Hiro specifically requests a Nissan Versa and will accept no other vehicle.

Hiros

• After getting a ride back to Las Vegas with Nathan, Hiro finds the Nissan Versa, parked in a garage. Later the Versa is seen again when Ando joins him.

Better Halves

• Hiro and Ando prepare to leave Las Vegas in their Versa when the high roller makes them an offer they can't refuse.

Nothing to Hide

• In Utah, Hiro and Ando stop the Versa at the site of a traffic accident.
• Lyle Bennet hides from Claire and Zach inside the Bennet Family Nissan Armada SUV.

Homecoming

• Micah is found waiting near a Greyhound Bus.

Six Months Ago

• Greyhound buses are seen in the background as Hiro and Charlie discuss attending the Japanese film festival 300 miles away.

Fallout

• Peter drinks from an Arrowhead water bottle while being interrogated by Matt Parkman and Audrey Hanson. Behind them, more bottles sit conspicuously on a table.
• Hiro and Ando reach the Union Wells High School in their Nissan Versa. They stand right next to a car, presumably the Nissan, when Isaac calls and tells them they need to meet.
• Isaac disembarks from a Greyhond Bus in Midland.

Godsend

• Hiro mentions the Nissan Versa to Simone while explaining his role in the 9th Wonders! comic books.

The Fix

• Hiro and Ando go to retrieve their Nissan Versa from a parking garage in New York.

Distractions

• Zach and Claire use a Quest minivan to meet Claire's birth mother in Kermit, TX.

Unexpected

• Mohinder drives a Nissan Sentra rental car in to meet Dale Smither in Bozeman, Montana.
• Dale, an evolved human with enhanced hearing owns an iPod Nano which is used to drown out other sounds. The iPod lies in puddle of blood after Sylar kills Dale.
• Ando drives Hope to Primm, NV, in the Nissan Versa. Hope uses the car as a shield during a shootout with Steve Gustavson. After the shootout, Hiro notes that the car doesn't have a scratch.
• Hiro and Ando hide in the luggage compartment of a Greyhound bus during the gunfight, which also takes place at a Greyhound bus depot. Later, Hiro boards a Greyhound bus headed for Las Vegas.

Company Man

• The Bennet family returns from the hospital in their Nissan Armada SUV. Later, Mr. Bennet and Claire ride in the SUV to meet the Haitian.
• A ten-year-old Hiro plays a Game Boy.

Primatechpaper.com

• A red Nissan Sentra is parked outside of Primatech Paper on their website's About Us page.

Companies and Products

Apple

An Apple iPod Nano was used by an evolved human with enhanced hearing. The trademark clickwheel and infamous white earbuds are displayed prominently. In addition a free download of the Heroes pilot can be obtained from Apple's iTunes.

Arrowhead bottled water

Arrowhead water bottles sit conspicuously, labels to the viewer in a room which contains only two tables, Peter, and the bottles themselves. When Peter takes a sip, the label is perfectly angled so the logo displayed prominently.

Greyhound Bus Lines

Greyhound buses have been featured prominently in numerous episodes. Two characters have ridden on the company's buses, and the Greyhound logo has been seen filling the entire frame.

Nissan

Nissan is a primary acknologed sponsor of the Heroes franchise, sponsoring the broadcast episodes, graphic novels, a free iTunes download of the pilot, as well as Heroes 360. In addition to product placement, they also use traditional and more obvious advertising methods such as television commericials and print ads placed in the beginning of each graphic novel.

The Nissan Versa is identified by name and featured prominently in numerous episodes. The name of the car is also seen printed on the screen whenever Hiro or Ando mention the car while speaking Japanese.

Mr. Bennet drives a Nissan Armada SUV, and the name badge is prominently displayed in Company Man.

Notes

• Emerson, makers of the InSinkErator brand in-sink garbage disposal sued NBC for the use of their clearly branded product during a scene where Claire's hand is badly mangled after she places it in a running garbage disposal (Genesis). Emerson claimed NBC misrepresented any risks or potential injuries posed by the InSinkErator on the show, while portraying the brand "in an unsavory light, irreparably tarnishing the product." The company settled with NBC out of court on Feb 23, 2007. [1]

Gallery

• 
  Hiro's Versa rental car awaits him outside LAX airport.
  (One Giant Leap)
• 
  D.L. finds Micah waiting near a Greyhound Bus.
  (Homecoming)
• 
  Peter drinks from an Arrowhead water bottle.
  (Fallout)
• 
  A Greyhound logo fills the frame.
  (Fallout)
• 
  Zach drives a Quest minivan.
  (Distractions)
• 
  Mohinder drives a Nissan rental car while in Bozeman, Montana.
  (Unexpected)
• 
  Dale's iPod lies in a puddle of blood.
  (Unexpected)
• 
  Hiro and Ando walk past some Greyhound buses on the way to their Versa.
  (Unexpected)
• 
  Mr. Bennet drives his Nissan Armada to the bridge.
  (Company Man)
• 
  The Nissan Armada approaches the bridge.
  (Company Man)
• 
  1992 was a big year for the Game Boy.
  (Company Man)