Comic books have become the latest repository for product placement by marketers who have grown desperate to capture the attention of distracted consumers. One of the most recent examples is a
six-issue series of comic books called "Rush City" that DC Comics developed for General Motors' Pontiac division. The series features an action hero who zips around town saving lives and doing good
deeds in a specially equipped Pontiac Solstice GXP. "We think it's a great story and a great way for Pontiac to reach guys in their 20s and 30s," said "Rush City" editor Ron Perazza of DC Comics, a
division of Time Warner. Comic books, which long have had paid ads in their pages, are particularly attractive to advertisers who want to reach the highly coveted 18- to 34-year-old male demographic.
After all, the average comic book reader is a 28-year-old man who spends $1,300 to $1,500 a year on the hobby. Critics contend, however, that marketers must be careful not to let their products
intrude too much on a comic book's story line. Bruce Vanden Bergh, a Michigan State University advertising professor, said young men are particularly turned off by overt ad pitches, and if the comic
book placements "jump out as being inappropriate and in the wrong place, it won't work."
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