Chinese dairy firm invests in US product placement to reach.......Chinese consumers

Chinese dairy firm Yili has moved into the realms of US TV product placement, in an effort to reach a growing number of China-based fans of American TV and film.

According to a report from China Daily, companies in the country have been forced to find new ways of promoting their products as more US produced movies and TV shows are introduced to China.

In a recent episode of the popular American sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, a carton of Shuhua milk – which is distributed by Yili – is featured on a kitchen counter.

However, the Shuhua appearance is not Yili’s first attempt at infiltrating the US product placement market. A carton of the milk product also featured in the recent Hollywood blockbuster Transformers: The Dark Side of the Moon.

According to the report, sales of the product grew by 12% year on year during the time the movie was released in China.