Kinda related, I've been mind-boggled at the amount of product placement Microsoft has been buying in TV shows lately. Everywhere you turn, characters are making a VERY OBVIOUS POINT of using a Surface or something. It's hilarious/awful.
I've been watching Arrow lately and it's really obnoxious there (though not really any more so than other shows that Microsoft has their marketing hooks into). For example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyRZ03SFB68
This is consistent. Every time a character uses a computer, there are several solid seconds of LET US SHOW YOU THE NEW WINDOWS.
Part of me really wants this kind of information to be recorded somewhere and made public some number of decades into the future. It would be absolutely fascinating as a student (in the broader sense) of technology and business to read all the confidential agreements, product placements, and back-room deals that facilitated the outcomes of technological history, even if it's after a very long delay.
By any practical measure Apple is indeed paying in that they gift the show with free iPads / iPhones / Computers / etc. Hence why the credits usually say that "promotional considerations" were provided by Apple.
However as others have said, Apple appearances do tend to be much more subtle, insofar as a big Apple logo is subtle.
In those cases, Apple is clearly not paying to have their merch being used and the show clearly didn't get approval to "officially" use the Apple logo which is why they had to cover it. But, in the end, it is still clear that this thing they use is an iMac.
To put it another way, the frontal shots typically used to frame the Apple logo are from the conventions of dialog, not atmospherics. The Apple logo tells us about the executive producer and nothing about the character. It's not ironic, satirical, or editorial. Just cynical.
Of course, MS can't do that with the surface cause it is so unremarkable so they just have to show the UI which is what makes it awkward as they really like to linger and make sure you really see that this is the original UI the device comes with.
When you see people using a Mac, for example on "Bones", you will just a custom created UI they interact with. I hear these are mostly flash animation that are supposed to look "techy" while not being boring. Which, incidentally is why things like tracking an IP or similar is looking to hilarious as it is done in the most graphical, bells and whistles kind of way. Even when they just send an email out in a scene they will use a custom animation instead of having the character really interact with OSX and use the standard mail client.
I'd like to clarify that I'm not an Apple fanboy by any means - my mobile devices are all Android, and I primarily work on Windows machines. I don't have any issue with characters using modern technologies as part of a story, but when the storytelling detours for the sole purpose of advertising a product, it gets wonky.
Some more of my favorite examples:
Nissan/Fringe - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4fY1_NSxF0
Windows Phone/Castle - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFPcvcTzdYY
Hyundai/Burn Notice - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4xlSN9_XT0
Subway/Hawaii-50 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQYwFND7rHE
On the flip side, Chuck did Subway's product placement very well - they just leaned into it and played it for laughs, rather than trying to oh-so-cleverly have Serious Characters eat Serious Lunch with Serious Nutritional Value. The show just owned the fact that Subway had shoved a crackload of cash at them and went overboard with it.
I also like the Archer where Archer gets the spy car: "thanks, Dodge!" " So how much did Dodge kick in?" "Not as much as you'd think..."
TV is just ads for ads. There's a reason Hulu sucks so much.
Kudos for voting with your eyes.
Even worse were the ones by Toyota for Warehouse 13, in the show, everyone gifts a Toyota Prius, everyone rentals a Toyota Prius, heck they even had an episode where while other cars are melting down, they drive the Prius through the hot burning lava perfectly fine!
Nowadays marketers don't even care about subtlety, product placements are becoming more and more obvious to ignore!
You just blew your endorsement money.
Professionalism is mostly about signalling to colleges, customers, bosses, etc. Similar to wearing pants. I wear pants in public and particularly to work because that is what professionalism looks like in my industry and society. When I'm at home, when nobody is paying attention to what I do, I kick off the pants and put on some gym shorts (even if I'm working from home).
Protesting silently is an old phenomenon. Frankly, if an artist was enthusiastic about every person who financed their work, I wouldn't consider them a professional.