That's whacked: Expedition front and center of grisly Sopranos scene

Automakers have been paying big bucks for product placement in movies like Transformers and Casino Royale. When Ford marketers first heard that their recently redesigned Expedition made a free, blue oval-laden appearance on the wildly popular Sopranos finale, they must have figured that a little luck went their way. When those same product placement-o-holics discovered that the Expedition's big scene was when Tony Soprano enemy Phil Leotardo's head got crushed by said SUV, they probably weren't as happy. We thought the scene was especially odd considering that it contained a sustained close-up of the blue oval followed by Leotardo getting quickly shot in the head. Then we see the historic oval again on the front wheel as the mob boss' head gets run over by the two and a half ton vehicle with a crunch that can only be described as horrific.

Ford spokeswoman Whitney Drake said the appearance was "not a product placement." No kidding? Leotardo may have deserved his fate though. What self-respecting mob boss doesn't get chauffeured in a Town Car?

[Source: Detroit News]