[mmcwilliams]

They didn't stop. The industry term of art these days is "embedded advertising" and it's used in television and movies far more than you would think. Hear a character mention a current brand name seemingly off-hand? Yeah, not an accident.

[gaius]

Sure, that's product placement, and it is very hard to do well. Remember the Cisco placement in CSI, or Omega in Casino Royale? Utterly cringeworthy.

Subliminal messaging is flashing something up too quickly to consciously register, but still leaving an impression.

[mmcwilliams]

It's actually beyond product placement. It's about getting something in the story line that triggers brand awareness. This doesn't even mean showing or mentioning the product directly. I know several screenwriters who have their work subjected to this kind of editing. It is utterly subliminal and not at all similar to the popular culture version of "subliminal messaging" that you refer to.

[gaius]

On the subject of James Bond there's another scene in the same film where he's using a Sony Ericcson phone. Really, the suavest man in the world rocks a Sony phone? It's embarrassing to watch.