15. Cast Away - FedEx
Though in the minds of many this should probably shoot straight to the top,
Cast Away's filmmakers have repeatedly insisted that they were never paid a penny to feature shipping company FedEx in their film, and it emerged more out of a need to seem realistic, and place the otherwise absurd story in a more plausible context. Still, FedEx were likely happy for the nod, because the film was a considerable hit, and in fact, you'll struggle to find people who will talk about the film without mentioning its extreme product placement. The fact that the brand name is essentially tied into the storyline - for Tom Hanks' character, who winds up being shipwrecked after a plane crash, is a FedEx employee - makes it one of the more wild and ambitious cases, though given the nature of the story and its strong execution, this can mostly be forgiven. That said, would the film seem any more absurd if they'd just made up a shipping company? I doubt it.