With the advent of TiVo, etc., sponsors increasingly turn to product placement to gain attention lost to viewers skipping through commercials. For instance, HP pays a promotional consideration to NBC's The Office for the placement of their computers and monitors within the show's stories. In the October 25th episode, "Local Ad", the Second Life brand just happened to go along for the ride as part of the story (with a little help from Clear Ink.) This was named by IAG Research as one of the top 10 most effective placements of 2007 based on "positive impact on brand opinion." The Office was the only non-reality show in the top 10, and Second Life was probably the only brand not to pay its way into the top 10.

[Additional coverage at Wired and Massively]