I wonder if driving a Nissan vehicle will give me superhuman powers. I don’t think Nissan is really suggesting that with their product placement in the television show “Heroes.” But it still makes me wonder. Last season time-hopping Hiro and his friend Ando drove across the United States in a Nissan Versa. This year cheerleader Claire had her brand new Nissan Rogue stolen almost before you could find one on a dealer’s lot. According to this Web site, there are plenty of other instances of product placement on the show, including the Bennett family’s Nissan Armada and Mohinder Suresh’s rental Sentra.

Maybe we’re more likely to purchase a car we see our favorite character driving. Maybe we think we can be as cool as James Bond if we drive an Aston Martin (even if it’s not equipped with all the cool spy stuff). Maybe we haven’t heard of or seen a certain vehicle and that product placement opens our eyes to it. (Although, I don’t think seeing the Nissan Rogue get stolen from a high school parking lot in the light of day is a ringing endorsement for its security system.) With so many of us recording programs with our DVRs and skipping the commercials, companies have to get creative with advertising.

photo courtesy Nissan