Britney Spears’s “Hold It Against Me” Pimps Tech Brands

Mashable, Faceminang - Britney Spears’s “Hold It Against Me” Pimps Tech Brands. Britney Spears’s new music video for “Hold It Against Me” encapsulates a growing trend in the music video business: blatant product placement for dating websites and big tech brands.

The much-anticipated video for Spears’ song debuted just a few hours ago on YouTube and Vevo. It comes with everything you’d expect from a Spears video, including Britney in her underwear and the familiar army of male dancers. It also comes with a few surprises, including a scene where she beats herself up ninja style and another where she is lifted skyward through a giant cylindrical room filled with Sony TVs and monitors.

How do I know that the video screens are from Sony? It’s impossible not to notice the electronics manufacturer’s presence throughout the video. It’s not just the constant placement of Sony TVs, but it’s also the brief flashes of Sony’s logo that make this video feel like some form of botched subliminal advertising (scroll to the 1:34 and 2:40 marks in the video to see what I mean).

Sony isn’t the only tech brand to get a shout-out from the former teen pop queen. Dating site PlentyOfFish also apparently paid Spears to browse its website for potential mates. This isn’t the first prominent music video that includes the free-to-use dating website, either. Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” features a security guard perusing the site as she releases the singer from prison. And if that weren’t enough, Gaga’s video also gave product placement love to Virgin Mobile.

Should we be surprised that tech brands are invading popular music videos? Will Oracle start pimping servers in a Katy Perry video? How long will it be until Snoop Dog is rapping about the HP TouchPad?

It’s a brave new world for tech brands looking for exposure outside of Silicon Valley. We’ve included the full video of “Hold It Against Me” below so you can see for yourself.