What is most memorable about Baz Luhrman's movie adaptation of "The Great Gatsby?"

The lavish parties? The silk shirt scene? Or is it the multitude of product placements that pervade the film from beginning to end?

For marketers who invested heavily in the blockbuster, it is the latter. For film connoisseurs, probably not so much.

While most of the products featured in the film are organic to the scenes containing them – the Brookes Brothers menswear, the Prada womenswear, Tiffany's jewelry, and The Plaza Hotel to name a few – many of the shots showcasing Moët & Chandon champagne did not seem particularly natural. For some reason the film's producers felt no shame about introducing unrealistically humongous bottles of the high-end bubbly, their labels pointing directly to camera. (See the screengrab below as a case in point.)

To be fair, Moët isn't the only brand guilty of the artless product placement. Take a look at some other companies who have perpetrated the same crime.

The first film to unabashedly to peddle products was the 1927 silent movie, "Wings." A Hershey's chocolate bar was not-so-subtly introduced into the narrative.

Source.

The appearance of FedEx branding in the 2000 drama "Castaway" starring Tom Hanks is technically not a product placement since the courier company didn't not pay for the screen time. After the film's release FedEx saw a significant increase in brand awareness in Asia and Europe where brand recognition was low.

Source.

The appearance of Reese's Pieces in "E.T." increased Hershey's profits by 65% following the release of the film. Not too shabby.

Source.

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I'm in Philly for the weekend, determined to prove I can have a great time by spending the least amount of cash possible–– $100 or less. 

So far, so awesome. I've taken advantage of just about every free attraction the city has to offer, paid next to nothing to get around thanks to my new favorite app, SideCar, and managed to find a wealth of cheap eats with help from BI readers and some friendly locals. 

But as of this morning I had yet to conquer the challenge that faces every first-time Philly visitor –– finding the perfect Philly cheesesteak.

Little did I know, I'd find it in the last place I'd ever guess. 

Everyone (and I mean everyone) who has been to Philly or lived in Philly or simply heard of Philly has an opinion on which of the two leading cheesesteak rivals –– Pat's and Geno's –– is best.

I tried polling Twitterers to get a sense of which was more popular. It was like listening to fans battle over their favorite football team.

@mandiwoodruff I promise if you go to Geno's it'll be so good you'll take the wrapper home with you

— CoursenSecurityGroup (@CoursenSecurity) May 19, 2013

@mandiwoodruff was out there a couple weeks ago... Geno's and all the other places were horrid... We have better street meat here

— Drew Brenner (@owndjoo852) May 19, 2013

To be honest, I swung by both Pat's and Geno's Saturday night. Between the Vegas Strip lighting situation and mile-long lines, I lost my appetite altogether.

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Singers and celebrities alike came out to celebrate the Billboard Music Awards.

Black was in fashion and so were cutout shapes. While some stars rocked the look, others could have used a little more fabric.

See which stars dazzled the Billboard's blue carpet.

BEST: Jennifer Lopez looked glamorous in a low-dip glimmering gold gown.

BEST: 20-year-old Selena Gomez accented her white Atelier Versace gown with green and pink neon highlights.

WORST: Miley Cyrus wore a dizzying, sparkly harlequin getup.

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The Billboard Music Awards were filled with plenty more performances than award-giving. 

Bruno Mars, Selena Gomez, and Justin Bieber were among the many routines of the evening that lasted a long three hours on ABC.

PSY rocked the stage with host Tracy Morgan early on and Christina Aguilera debuted a slimmer look.

Jennifer Lopez heated up the stage in leggy red boots, while Miguel took the evening — and a few bystanders — down a few notches during a failed stage dive attempt.

Bruno Mars opened the show to a gorgeous backdrop, performing "Treasure."

Host Tracy Morgan made a grand entrance with a flock of feathered females.

He later hijacked the stage with PSY for a mini dance-off.

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American households are under stress again, according to the latest consumer distress index by CredAbility.

“Despite the growth in jobs and an improved housing market, our index shows that the average U.S. household has seen little improvement in the past year and took a step back in 2013’s first quarter,” according to Phil Baldwin, CEO of CredAbility.

Baldwin is referring to the rise in payroll taxes at the start of the year, which has forced people to save more.

CredAbility adds that 49 million people are still on food stamps, and nearly 12 million are still unemployed.

American households on average scored 70.73% in the Q1 Consumer Distress Index, down from 71.77% in Q4. A reading below 70% indicates a state of financial distress.

The report measures financial distress in households in metro areas with a population of over 2 million, measuring employment, housing, credit, household budgets, and net worth.

Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, California

Total: 66.06%

Employment: 44.30%

Housing: 73.29%

Credit: 83.11%

Net worth: 64.51%

A score below 70% indicates distress, according toCredAbility.

Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pennsylvania

Total: 65.95%

Employment: 53.60%

Housing: 69.09%

Credit: 84.55%

Net worth: 59.82%

A score below 70% indicates distress, according to CredAbility.

Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, South Carolina

Total: 65.90%

Employment: 65.54%

Housing: 67.03%

Credit: 84.91%

Net worth: 59.30%

A score below 70% indicates distress, according to CredAbility.

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Microsoft will unveil its next Xbox gaming console May 21 at a big event at its Redmond, Washington headquarters. 

Most of the details on the new console are shrouded in secrecy, but a few nuggets have leaked out in recent months. Here's everything we know about the next Xbox so far.

According to leaked hardware specs, the next Xbox will have: a Blu-Ray player, 8 GB of RAM, 8-core 1.6 GHz processor, at least a 50 GB hard drive, HDMI port for connecting to your TV, USB 3.0 ports for accessories, WiFi, and wireless controllers.

Microsoft has at least experimented with letting you stream games over the Web instead of using a regular disc. It's possible that feature will make it to the final console for some games.

Kinect, the motion-controlled accessory for the Xbox, will likely get an upgrade with better voice commands and greater motion sensitivity.

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On Friday, we went to the Fishermen's Conservation Association's 15th annual Manhattan Cup — a "catch and release" charity tournament.

The event raised funds and awareness for the Wounded Warriors Project, superstorm Sandy relief, Hooked-for-a-lifetime (taking inner city kids fishing), Catch A Cure (cystic fibrosis research), Grace Foundation (helping families with autistic children), Jacob' s Team (autism awareness and support) and many beach clean up efforts.  

The FCA bills it as a fishing tournament where participants "represent a veritable who’s who of Wall Street and the 'pro fishing' circuit."

We met a bunch of professional fishermen and a handful of Wall Streeters.

We're told by a well-connected Wall Street source that it's an event big names on the Street "quietly support." For example, the source told us that a well-known money manager lent his boat for a team to use for the day and he's been supporting the event for years.  

"It's very informal, not like Robin Hood," our source explained referring to the philanthropic organization backed by Paul Tudor Jones and other top hedge fund managers. 

Per our source, Wall Street's involvement with the Manhattan Cup goes back to when a bunch of the traders and hedge funders used to go fishing with Capt. Frank Crescitelli, who is the chairman of the FCA's board. 

These Wall Streeters would go with Crescitelli early in the morning before going to the office.  Our source said he used to go fishing with him at 4:15 p.m. right after the closing bell.  

There were apparently some tough years right after September 11th when the Hudson River was off limits and people moved out of downtown and then when the financial crisis hit and a lot of folks lost their jobs.  

He noted that this year was challenging because superstorm Sandy wrecked the marinas in Staten Island, but it was still a "tremendous accomplishment" to have so many boats and people turn out this year.  

There were about 50 boats and around 200 anglers fishing in the Manhattan Cup.  

We checked out the event at Chelsea Piers and if you missed it, we've included highlights in the slides that follow.  

We arrived on the docks outside the Chelsea Brewing Company at Chelsea Piers around 7:30 a.m.

There were probably around 250 people participating in the tournament.

Inside the brewery there was a feast for breakfast — eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast, bagels, etc.

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The collectible market is booming, with art, cars, and jewelry all breaking records in recent months.

Watches are no different. Google, Apple, and Samsung may all be rushing to make smart watches, but the classic chronograph continues to sell.

Since May 2012, Christie's and Sotheby's — the major players in the watch auction market — have sold six watches for more than $2 million apiece. 

These are the most expensive watches ever sold at auction, as of May 2013.

#18 In November 2009, Antiquorum sold a pocket watch that belonged to Gandhi, along with other objects that belonged to him, for $2.096 million.

#17 An 18-karat yellow gold chronograph by George Daniels sold for $2.1 million at a Sotheby's auction in London in November 2012.

#16 A 1944 stainless steel, water-resistant perpetual calendar Patek Philippe wristwatch sold for $2.26 million to a private Swiss museum at Christie's in November 2007.

Source: Bloomberg

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Reports this weekend from AllThingsD point to Tumblr being acquired by Yahoo for nearly $1.1 billion. Although popular, unlike Pinterest or Twitter it has yet to become a necessary part of any brand’s content strategy.

But that doesn’t mean people aren’t doing interesting things on the platform.

We looked at sites that are adding something new to the web or, if they’re curating something else they found, at least adding their own distinctive twist. It’s often used by bloggers looking for a fast way to share a distinctive, expert voice or brands looking to experiment under the radar. We’ve collected ten that tumbl travel well.

Tasmania Behind the Scenery

Tourism Tasmania uses its own photos and those of others from Tumblr and sources like Instagram to remind people why Tasmania's natural beauty is so impressive.

Click here to visit the Tumblr >

Reid on Travel

Ex-Lonely Planet U.S. editor Robert Reid shares his thoughts and videos, the latter being the most clever travel videos online.    

Click here to visit the Tumblr >

The Looking Glass

A Disney-run blog that curates photography by shooters invited to Disney parks.  

Click here to visit the Tumblr >

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President Barack Obama had a big month of April, as the White House was largely captivated by some major news events — the Boston Marathon bombings and the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas.

As always, White House photographer Pete Souza documented Obama's every step along the way. We've pulled 26 of Souza's best photos from his April set.

President Barack Obama reacts to a missed shot on the White House Basketball Court during the Easter Egg Roll.

President Barack Obama welcomes Robby Novak, known as “Kid President,” to the Oval Office.

President Barack Obama talks with Rachel Robinson, widow of Jackie Robinson, before the “42” movie screening in the White House.

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TripAdvisor just released the results of its 2013 Travelers’ Choice Destinations winners.

Millions of TripAdvisor users voted on their favorite destinations around the world, as well as their favorite destinations in the U.S.

Paris took the top spot on the World Destinations list, trumping New York City (#2) and London (#3).

Unsurprisingly, New York City topped the list of American destinations for the second year in a row.

“New York City continues to be an attractive draw for people from all around the world," NYC& Company’s CEO George Fertitta said. "The city’s unique energy, excitement and diversity are all reasons why visitors are continually drawn to the five boroughs year after year.”

See what other American cities made the list.

#25 Houston, TX

#24 Naples, FL

#23 Palm Springs, CA

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Early reviews indicate that "Fast and Furious 6" may be the best film of the summer, and based on the cars that appear in the latest installment of the franchise, that's not surprising.

Usually heavy on American and Japanese rides, this Fast/Furious brings us classics from the continent, including the work of Ferrari and Pagani, and some British classics, like the Ginetta G60 and Jensen Interceptor.

Throw in a Mercedes SLS AMG and a tank, and "Fast and Furious 6" is guaranteed to be a whole lot of destructive driving fun.

Vin Diesel will be behind the wheel of a 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona.

[Source: BBC America]

Dwayne Johnson is back in the Gurkha, the armored car he drove in 'Fast Five.'

The movie's villain will be piloting a 2010 BMW M5, which gets pretty banged up.

[Source: Motor Authority]

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Yesterday, we featured the new Arrested Development trailer, but since May 26th can't come soon enough, here are the 10 funniest projects the cast has been involved in since the hiatus.

Will Arnett had a recurring role as Jack Donaghy's arch-nemesis on '30 Rock.'

Corporate rivalry gets taken to the next level whenever Arnett's Devin Banks squares off against Alec Baldwin's Jack Donaghy, which occasionally leads to sexy confusion.

Jason Bateman starred in a hilarious web short for Orbit.

Will Arnett pops up (again!) alongside Aubrey Plaza as Jason Bateman does his fatherly best to keep cool in this hilarious viral commercial for Orbit Gum.

Watch the video >

Portia de Rossi played Veronica Palmer on ABC's 'Better Off Ted.'

Portia de Rossi brings her comedy A-game to Veridian Dynamics as the sexiest, craziest boss you could ever hope for.

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In a surreal moment, some fans cheered when Sergio Garcia hit two-straight balls in the water at the Players Championship earlier this month.

His tantrums, complaining, and Ryder Cup dominance has turned him into the sport's greatest villain since he burst onto the scene in 1999.

Here's why.

He throws temper tantrums all the time.

Source: AdamSarson

He bent down and spit directly into the cup after missing a par putt at a tournament in 2007.

Source: ESPN

He once threw his club in a lake.

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By now everyone knows the two FBI Agents who went down Friday were part of an elite special operations unit.

Less commonly-known is that unit's history.

Anticipating security problems at the '84 Olympics in LA, then-director of the FBI William H. Webster undertook the task of establishing a special operations branch. What eventually became the Hostage Rescue Team would train right beside America's toughest operators, picking up all their tactics, techniques, and procedures along the way.

In fact, since its establishment, many former military operators have gone on to try out for the FBI's HRT.

Over the years, the rigorous standards paid off in more than 800 operations — Most recently in 2011 when they helped kill a few Somali pirates and then domestically when they rescued a boy from a hostage-taker hunkered down in a bunker.

The HRT training center is located at the FBI Academy on the Marine Base in Quantico, Virginia. (Those are Marine Corps pull-up bars.)

They have several specialties that have been primarily developed in the military, and in fact they often train right beside the nation's most elite operators.

At their own specially designed 'shoot-house' they practice military urban tactics.

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Americans work more hours than anyone else in the world, but the extra hours can actually backfire, leading to decreased productivity and chronic stress.

Though not yet an official medical condition, job burnout is the greatest challenge to the global health system and stress-related symptoms are expected to get worse as the workplace becomes more global and competitive.

If you experience the following signs that we've compiled from studies and research, you may be heading toward job burnout and should reconsider your work-life balance.

You can't concentrate.

Chronic physical and mental exhaustion can lead to various cognitive problems, such as an inability to concentrate, hold attention, and remember things.You'll find that it's harder to get things done and you simply can't keep up the way you used to.

David Ballard from The American Psychological Association says that our brains are only designed to handle stress in short bursts before returning to normal, so "when stress becomes chronic, this narrow focus continues for a long time and we have difficulty paying attention to other things.”

You always have too much to do.

Do you always feel like you should be working more?

According to a study from the University of Zaragoza, "frenetic burnout" types are "involved and ambitious subjects who sacrifice their health and personal lives for their jobs."

You feel guilty.

You're constantly working, but can't seem to get all of your work done (maybe because your work load is too heavy or you can't concentrate) and you eventually feel guilty for not completing your work, which leads to working even more.

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Amazon is building a new headquarters in Seattle. It has scrapped plans for a rectangular design and has replaced it with three connected domes. We learned about this on GeekWire.

The structure's design inspiration comes from buildings all over the world, including a zoo in Germany and gardens in Singapore. It will be tall enough to accommodate fully-grown trees inside. The renderings were put together by NBBJ.

The domes could take more than six years to build and the headquarters would take up 3.3 million square feet. The proposal is being discussed at Seattle's City Hall tonight.

Here's what the proposed Amazon dome headquarters will look like when it's finished.

And an aerial view of the surrounding Seattle buildings.

Here's the headquarters that was previously proposed and approved.

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Microsoftrevealed its next-generation video game console, the Xbox One, at a big press event today.

Here's a quick roundup of everything it can do.

Here's what it looks like. That's the Kinect sensor on top, the console in the middle, and the controller in the front.

The Xbox One has a lot of powerful specs, including a 500 GB hard drive, WiFi direct, 8GB of RAM, and a Blu-Ray player.

This is what the controller looks like.

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If you thought that facial recognition software was just some obscure, futuristic technology that only has real-life applications in sci-fi flicks like "Minority Report" and "Gattaca," think again.

Big business has refined facial identification. And it is everywhere.

As Lesley Stahl reported on "60 Minutes" last weekend, "the ability of computers to identify faces has gotten 100 times better, a million times faster, and exponentially cheaper."

The "60 Minutes" segment gives an in-depth account of all the scary advancements in the field – highlighting the technology's ability to track your whereabouts, mine your personal data, and even predict your social security number.

If you're not too freaked out to learn more about the insidious ubiquity of facial ID-ing, we've summarized the 60 Minutes segment in the slideshow below. 

Carnegie Mellon's science lab created a toy drone outfitted with facial recognition software so advanced that it can identify a face from a far distance. The lab's research is expected to take surveillance to a whole other level.

The facial recognition software can either capture real people from its cameras or convert a flat image into a 3D model.

The software maps people's faces with dots and then creates a "faceprint" as unique as fingerprint. The image produced can be matched with pre-existing photos stored in databases.

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In recent weeks, the U.S. economy has shown some signs of slowing.

But the good news is that it continues to grow.  And conditions are without question much better than much better today than they were during the height of the financial crisis.

Over the past three months, 45 of the 50 states showed increasing activity, according to the Philly Fed's coincident index of employment, unemployment, manufacturing hours and wages.

Every month, the Philly Fed produces these fantastic maps tracking economic activity across the country.  Red shows economic decline while blue or green show gain.

The maps start in 2005 when the economy was booming.

January 2005

February 2005

March 2005

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