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Paid product endorsement in novels has caused a furore among the literary elite. But why make a fuss now? Authors have been at it for ages, says Iain Murray
News that the British author Carole Matthews is being paid by Ford Motor Company to feature a Fiesta car in her next two novels was greeted with consternation in literary circles. "Where will it all end?" they cried. But it seems their concern comes too late - product placement in books has been around for years, as the following excerpts show.
This, for instance, comes from one of Dickens's handy synopses:
"A chapter in which is described how Mr Tupman, with many disagreeable eruptions, swears a testimony to the remedial powers of Andrews Liver Salts; Mr Weller the elder delivers some critical sentiments respecting the merits of KFC Spicy Zinger Salad and with the assistance of his son Samuel disposes of an unwanted repast in a horse's nosebag; Mr Alfred Jingle astonishes the company with news of an improved suction machine newly available from the manufactory of Mr Dyson, and Mr Snodgrass, begging to differ, essays a demonstration of the superior merits of a broom, his injuries not being serious; Mr Winkle encounters Mistress Susannah Constantine and her fashionable companion Mistress Trinny Woodall and enters into wager whereby, if chance should favour his endeavour, he...