From Wikipedia:

Product placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, the story line of television shows, or news programs.

Now that we know what product placement is, let’s see what it’s not.

Product placement is not putting your logo on other companies’ products:

…and it’s definitely not allowing the use of a cheap imitation of your primary competitor’s product in a show you basically own (more on the iPhone clone on Gizmodo):

Don’t be mistaken, I’m not surprised, not even a bit, because apparently Microsoft decided to take some weight off Apple’s shoulders by advertising how cool Macs are. You see, when you spend your money and time on creating insanely great products, not only do you get free product placement from prime-time shows and blockbuster movies¹, you also get your competitors to do the advertising for you.

But at least one product placement deal was made before Microsoft decided to consciously ruin its business not only by producing the crappiest software this world’s ever seen, but by also spending the better part of its advertising budget to help Apple:

Note that Windows, Microsoft’s flagship product, is nowhere to be seen, except for a fraction of a second in The Day the Earth Stood Still. The only thing we seem to have is a couple of stickers and a $12k non-consumer product.

Before I finish my words, I would like to use this opportunity to personally thank Mr. Gates and Mr. Ballmer for their mind-blowing stupidity. They really make life much easier for people like me.