Product placement that worked

(Sort of.)

In Lynda Sandoval's Who's Your Daddy?, one of my favorite overlooked YA books of the past few years - although it looks like S&S rereleased it with a new cover in 2008, so maybe it wasn't as overlooked as I thought - I was introduced to OPI.

(PSA: OPI's website is a Flash monstrosity that seems to have caused a certain amount of havoc in Firefox. Sephora's site might be a better choice if you want to check out the offerings.)

Specifically, the pun-tastic names that OPI gives its nail polish colors:

"Caressa was bent low over my feet, painting my toenails with this sweet OPI shade she'd just bought, 'I'm Not Really a Waitress.' It's kind of a red with sparkly gold in it. I had a hard time deciding between that and another shade from OPI's European collection called 'Amster-Damsel in Distress,' but the gold shimmer in 'Waitress' really won me over."

The names were what won me over. I can't think of another instance in which I've become a fan of a brand just because it appeared in a book.

Even this book - there's a fair amount of brand-dropping, but the references to Lucky Brand jeans didn't do it for me.

You want more examples? How about "A Good Man-Darin is Hard to Find?" "Curry Up Don't Be Late?" "Pinko de Gallo?"

Now, it's been the better part of a decade since I actually bought nail polish, so OPI hasn't been benefiting much from my enthusiasm. But when I do get my nails done, I choose from the OPI selection - and I make sure I like the name before I decide on a color.

There's a small bit of anecdata for you.