Imagine if, after escaping zombies by covering himself in guts, the main Walking Dead character had cleaned himself up with Brawny paper towels: Nothing shakes viewers out of the “end of the world” vibe like the reminder that the marketing machine is immune to the undead virus! But according to the show’s producer, Gale Anne Hurd, product-placement firms were lobbying her to include just those kinds of scenes in her hit AMC series. Speaking at a CES panel in Las Vegas this morning, Hurd said she was given the hard press about how helpful this could be to her show’s bottom line. “It’s hard when you’re a new show,” Hurd said, but she and the other producers resisted temptation, deciding that adding anything product-related would completely ruin the show’s post–zombie apocalypse feel. Though you can imagine why the idea would be attractive to marketers: a product so good, it’ll get you through the end of times!

NYMag.com – The Walking Dead Narrowly Dodged Giving the Undead Product Placements