In a new twist on product placements, Sex and the City costar Kim Cattrall held a new Nikon digital camera throughout interviews carried by MSNBC, Fox News Channel and some 25 local news programs Thursday. Reporting on the Cattrall appearances, Friday’s New York Post commented that she “turned a string of live interviews into a commercial.” It quoted an MSNBC spokesman as saying, “Ms. Cattrall was booked for the obvious reason to talk about her role on Sex and the City. … It was an oversight on our part not realizing she was also there to endorse a product. But once it became obvious it was turning into a commercial endorsement for Nikon, we ended the interview. … This is not our standard practice and it will not happen again.” Bill McCuddy, who interviewed Cattrall on Fox News Channel, told the New York Daily News that Cattrall talked about the camera as if she were Carol Merrill, the prize presenter on Let’s Make a Deal. He said he’d like to see the network set up a screening process. “If it’s going to be a blatant Nikon commercial, we would take a pass.” Nikon said that it had arranged the satellite interviews and had informed the cable networks and stations that Cattrall would be talking about the camera.
