Car product placement in UK film and TV: how it works

Cars are some of the most visible products on screen, so it's no surprise that manufacturers take an interest in which cars characters drive. For producers, that raises practical questions. Should you approach a manufacturer, or just hire the car? What counts as product placement? What do the UK rules say? This guide explains the basics.

Ofcom's Broadcasting Code, which applies to UK television broadcasters, separates two things.

• Product placement is including a product, service or trade mark in a programme for a commercial purpose, in return for payment or other valuable consideration to the programme maker, broadcaster or a connected person.
• Prop placement is including a product where its provision has no significant value and nobody connected with the programme has received payment or other valuable consideration for it, disregarding the costs saved by including it.

Ofcom also says that prop placement involving products or services of "significant value" is treated as product placement and must follow the product placement rules. A loaned car can easily be significant value, so a manufacturer lending a fleet for a series is a different matter from a production simply hiring a car it needs.

For UK broadcast television, Section Nine of the Broadcasting Code sets the rules. In summary:

• Product placement is prohibited in news programmes and children's programmes, and (for programmes that began production after 31 October 2020) in religious, consumer affairs and current affairs programmes.
• It must not influence the content and scheduling of a programme in a way that affects the broadcaster's responsibility and editorial independence.
• References to placed products must not be promotional, and must not be unduly prominent.
• For programmes produced or commissioned by the broadcaster (or a connected person), product placement must be signalled with a universal neutral logo at the start of the programme, when it returns after each commercial break and at the end.

The Code covers more than this, including product categories that can't be placed at all. Read Section Nine itself or take advice for your production. Streaming platforms, cinema releases and advertising each have their own frameworks.

For many productions, hiring the car is the cleaner route. When a production pays to hire a car it needs for the story, the car is there for editorial reasons, not a manufacturer's commercial purpose. That said, the general Code rules on undue prominence apply to all commercial references, paid or not. A hired car gives you:

• Creative freedom. You choose the car that suits the character, not the model a brand wants to push.
• Period accuracy. Placement deals tend to centre on models a brand has to offer. Period stories need period cars, which come from owners and collectors.
• Simpler paperwork. There's no placement agreement and no brand approvals.
• Control over branding. You decide how visible badges are. Some productions de-badge or frame around logos.

Advertising has its own rules. In a commercial, the car is often the product, or it sits alongside the product, so the brand question is settled by the client. Where the car isn't the product, agencies often prefer a car that doesn't pull focus: a classic whose maker no longer exists, a de-badged car or a model that suits the brand's tone without making a statement. Branded content and influencer work have their own disclosure rules, which your agency or platform will advise on. Either way, raise brand sensitivities in the brief, before cars are shortlisted.

Whether you hire or place, think about how a brand appears. Many productions ask their clearance or legal team to review prominent logos, especially if the car does something a manufacturer might object to, such as crashing, being used in a crime or breaking down. Commercials need particular care, because a recognisable car brand in someone else's advert can raise questions. Tell your supplier about any brands to avoid. We can suggest alternatives or cars that are easy to de-badge.

For stories set in the past, placement rarely solves the casting problem. A manufacturer can't lend you a 1975 car it no longer makes, and period vehicles generally come from private owners and collectors. That means period productions usually hire picture cars, sometimes alongside a placement deal for any present-day scenes. See period cars for film for how we source them.

When a brief includes brand constraints, we note them against every shortlisted car. If a manufacturer must be avoided, we leave out its cars and say so. If badges need to be hidden, we check with each owner what's allowed, because some won't permit tape on paintwork. And if a car's maker is likely to be sensitive about the scene, we flag it so you can raise it with your clearance team early.

1. Decide early whether you want a placement deal. Placement takes time to negotiate, so don't leave it until prep.
2. Check the platform's rules. Broadcast, streaming and cinema have different requirements.
3. Keep editorial control. The story decides the car, not the deal.
4. Brief your car supplier on brand constraints, including competitor brands to avoid if you have a placement elsewhere in the show.
5. Log every recognisable brand in the clearance report.

For commercial work, see cars for commercials. To hire a car for the story, browse picture cars or read how picture car hire works with CarSeen.

This article summarises Ofcom's published rules for planning purposes. It is not legal advice.