Malcolm and Me in the Middle

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Have I gotten so jaded that I can't distinguish parody from product placement? I took Sunday night's programming lineup on Fox (NYSE: FOX) to task yesterday for what seemed like a night of sponsored pitches wedged into the corresponding storylines. It's a real epidemic out in Tinseltown these days.

It turns out that I was wrong on one count. I received a pair of emails from the folks behind Malcolm in the Middle to explain that what I had interpreted as a shameless plug for casual dining giant Applebee's (Nasdaq: APPB) was actually more of a shot at the chain's supposedly wholesome yet creepy marketing message. I guess that's what I get for falling for satire when it kisses me softly on the cheek instead of slapping me down to the ground the way it usually does.

But I know I wasn't the only one. When The Simpsons has Homer breaking into a Disney (NYSE: DIS) theme park and forking over $8 for a churro or finds Bart Simpson walking through a suburban mall where every other store is a Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX), the placement is obvious. You don't need a diagram to know that the show's creative staff is aiming for the jugular of corporate juggernauts. Yet in these more sinister days of product placement, I guess you can never be too subtle.

Earlier this week, the producer of The Apprentice announced that he was suing a product-placement firm for allegedly overcharging clients like Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) to get their wares on the popular show. The marketing firm was supposedly making off with more than the $2 million to $3.5 million that producer Mark Burnett usually demands for Donald Trump's glowing challenge-related endorsements.

It's the cruel reality of reality television. Hollywood movies have been doing this for ages. But going by some of the placement choices McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) has made, like in the movies Mac and Me and Spy Kids 2, maybe product misplacement is a more appropriate term.

But I guess it's good to know that Applebee's wasn't in on the act with one of my favorite shows. I think I'll go to the pawn shop and see if I can buy back that respect I was once hawking.

More related Foolishness:

• Even without Applebee's, it was still a wild Sunday night.
• Hollywood has really gone too far with this.
• Even Oprah has been known to go into that Mac and Me breakdance.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz wants to see if he can buy the "H" in the Hollywood sign and replace it with an "F" donning a jester cap. He does own shares in Disney. The Fool has a disclosure policy. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.