Product Placement on the ISS (Update)

Out-of-this-World product placement – it’s all about cultivating relationships, PR By The Book
“Dayna Steele is a (former) repeat client of PR by the Book and we also worked on her hubby’s novel, Specific Impulse. Marika Flatt, founder of PR by the Book, asked Dayna to write a guest blog post for us when she saw her picture on Facebook of our friend, NASA Astronaut Cady, holding a copy of Charlie’s book in space. Dayna & Charlie invited The Flatt family to tour the NASA Johnson Space Center a few years ago and their friend, Cady, gave them a personal tour. She’s now on the International Space Station. Here’s Dayna’s advice … Several people, including Charles Justiz the Wonder Husband have made the comment this past week “Wow, you still have it.” Really? All I did was get a shot of Charlie’s new thriller, Specific Impulse, in the hands of an astronaut. On the International Space Station. With Discovery parked outside the window. That’s all. So, here’s the question PR By The Book posed: How do you get such an out-of-this-world product placement, whether it is in space or within the constraints of gravity?”
– Hail Discovery!(More photos)
– Charles Justiz’ book “Specific Impulse” reading material on the International Space Station! (More photos)
Keith’s 1:10 pm EDT note: I was not aware that authors could get NASA astronauts to do on-orbit promotion and commercial “product placement” on the ISS unless there was a clear EPO tie-in, Space Act Agreement, etc. And now that “product placement” is part of an article on a professional PR on how to do “product placement”. Who knew? If this was just a favor done by a friend for a friend (which is what I am pretty sure the intent was on Cady’s part), that’s fine. But to write about it as if it was “product placement” implies some commercial and PR angle. Not good.
Curiously, last year at NASA Desert RATS, JSC PAO told me that I could not take any photos with astronauts in them and that if I did – and wanted to use the photos – that JSC PAO would need at least 3 days to process the request before giving permission – if they gave permission, that is. I was told by JSC PAO personnel that this rule did not apply to other NASA employees – only to astronauts.
Keith’s 5:27 pm EDT Update: This page has been pulled offline – but here is a cached version.