The Last of Us and Converse: An Analysis of Product Placement and Its Effect on Player Recall

Abstract

The video game industry has witnessed substantial growth in recent years, resulting in increased brand presence within games due to high consumer engagement. While product placement in games is commonly used for marketing purposes, there are instances where game developers incorporate it to enhance storytelling realism or as a reference. An example of this can be observed in The Last of Us saga, where one of the main characters consistently wears Converse sneakers throughout both game installments. It is important to note that no official statement has confirmed a marketing agreement between Sony Playstation and Converse. This qualitative study aims to investigate the impact of the apparent product placement of the Converse brand in The Last of Us saga on brand recall among users aged 20 to 30 in Arándana's Discord channel through semi-structured interviews .