Streamline/Interscope

Nine minutes, nine products ... Lady Gaga's new epic music video for Telephone features no fewer than nine product placements unless you count Beyonce as a tenth.

The Lady's production team was able to get lots of advertisers on board to help finance her mini movie -- which we're told had a budget of $300 - $400K!

Telephone was shot in two days and was directed by Jonas Akerlund - the Swedish music video master who has previously worked with the likes of Madonna and U2. Akerlund's rep tells X17: "Both [Lady Gaga and Akerlund] are creative geniuses, but a lot of the ideas for Telephone came from Lady Gaga."

Akerlund's rep tells us product placement, however, wasn't really part of Gaga's creative vision: "No one likes it, but it adds money to the project. These days when there's less money from the label, it helps. We're used to it."

(Gaga's label, Streamline/Interscope, has not responded to our requests for a statement.)

And Lady Gaga's definitely no stranger to creative marketing deals -- she signed on as Polaroid's creative director back in January.

Verizon sponsored her Monster Ball tour so it's not surprising a Virgin phone with their red logo on the screen has a role in the aptly-named Telephone.

Gaga's also got a branding deal with Monster headphones and, in fact, the "Heatbeats" in-ears and an HP Envy "Beats Limited Edition" laptop -- both from Monster -- make appearances in the video.

Ad Age's Andrew Hampp says both artist and advertiser win with deals like these: "... there seems to be a commitment to authenticity among her sponsors and marketing partners. For the advertisers, they get a natural extension of their advertising relationship with Lady Gaga as well as access to her fan base of millions around the world, and Gaga, her label and director Jonas Akerlund get to offset production costs for the expensive project."

One of the more surprising placements in the vid is Miracle Whip mayo (who would have thought they could work sandwich-making into a video for a track called Telephone).

Justin Parnell, brand manager at Miracle Whip tells X17 Interscope approached the mayonnaise manufacturer about a spot in the video and they gladly accepted the cash-for-casting: "When we relaunched Miracle Whip last year, we also reached out to a new consumer for the first time, 18-to-35-year-olds, with an engaging new creative campaign. We thought integrating our new package in this music video offered a chance to also engage this same group of younger consumers we want to reach. It is the first music video for Miracle Whip."

So maybe there'll be more Miracle Whip music video cameos to come! Perhaps Metallica can somehow feature sandwich-making in their next video.

Dating website PlentyOfFish is an equally surprising advertiser but their "Director of Love," Kate Bilenki, tells us it's paid off: "We've noticed a massive jump in brand awareness (if you search for us on twitter every post is about Telephone) as well as existing users returning. We did see about a 15% increase in Plentyoffish searches so far and the numbers keep climbing."

This isn't POF's first foray into what's being labeled by some as "organic marketing:" "... we had previously been integrated into a music video by Flo Rida called 'Available' and this was the next step for us after that."

It seems the next step for music video financing (and for film and TV too) is through product placement. Large endorsement deals for artists and other celebs to represent products in various OFF-screen formats are becoming more and more common as well - remember Jennifer Aniston "caught" by paparazzi with Smart Water and Lindsay Lohan covertly promoting Ariva nicotine gum?

Hampp, who's been following Gaga's promotional deals for Ad Age, says the product placements in Telephone are definitely a trend: "Product placements in music videos have risen in popularity in recent years in hip-hop culture as having name-brand cars, liquor and jewelry often go hand-in-hand with the lifestyle portrayed in the songs and their videos."

So have a Coke and a mayo sandwich while you surf the web for a date -- that is, apparently, the Gaga lifestyle!

NME's Abby Tayleure took the time to compile all the products and their minute markers:

1:34: Heartbeats earphones.
2:06: Virgin Mobile.
2:17: Diet Coke.
4:15: Virgin Mobile (again).
4:24: HP Envy ‘Beats Limited Editon’ laptop from Monster.
4:28: Plenty Of Fish dating site.
4:44: Chevrolet.
5:37: Polaroid.
6:24: Wonderbread.
6:36: Miracle Whip.
8:31: Polaroid (again)



And this isn't the first time Lady Gaga's looked for outside funding ... Bad Romance and Love Game feature as many products as does Telephone. Check those out after the jump.

It's what she's always wanted, so can you blame her?

After it was reported today that the actress has already made her final appearance on Grey's Anatomy and that she's being freed from her contract, we spotted her grabbing lunch with some pals in Hollywood. When our photographers asked her about leaving the show, Kat remained tight-lipped, but judging by the look on her face, she could care less!

images courtesy of Esquire.com

Wowzer! I've always been a big fan of Amanda Seyfried, but I'm sure she gained about 50,000 more fans after they got a peek at her sexy shots from Esquire. The Big Love starlet chats about everything from fame to her raw food diet with the mag, yet she manages to come off just like any other 24-year-old. And that my friends, is why we can't get enough of this girl. Okay, there might be two other reasons...

Who doesn't love Louis? Vuitton that is!

Yesterday we spotted a barefaced and beautiful Gwen Stefani rocking a LV scarf while running errands in Beverly Hills, and I have to say, I've always liked her better without her signature red lipstick!

Photo courtesy: Red Eye Productions

Ashley Tisdale is putting her music and acting careers aside for a minute, and to Victoria's Secret it all makes perfect scents!

The lingerie company is pairing with the High School Musical star to launch their newest perfume collection, Life is PINK. The trio of scents each have a name: Wish, Live and Hope.

I'm sure Ashley is wishing and hoping that High School Musical 4 will live to see the light of day.

Hey Ash, don't let those sweet-smelling fumes go to your head!

This afternoon Katie Holmes and her precious daughter Suri lunched at Le Pain Quotiden after dance practice, and the celebritot was snapped happily munching away on a chocolate croissant. It doesn't look like she was interested in sharing a bite with mom, but I'm sure she would have been open to sharing a napkin! Still, who hasn't made a little bit of a mess while enjoying a delicious pastry?

Photo courtesy: Startraks

Now that her movie Mother's Little Helpers has wrapped, Denise Richards fills up her gas guzzler near her home in Calabasas looking beautifully casual.

The hot momma of two left the girls at home in order to enjoy a little quiet time at the pump. With her Trident Layers gum in hand, Denise seems to have put all of her ex Charlie Sheen's drama out of her head...at least for the moment.

We'll admit, she can pull off just about any look...even sans makeup. Way to keep it real, Denise!

Dayum! I know it's old news that Hilary Duff got engaged, but every time I get a peek at the ring Mike Comrie gave her, my jaw drops. That 14 carat diamond is a MONSTER!

We spotted the former Disney princess at LAX yesterday, and even though a car rear ended her limo on the way to the airport, she didn't seem fazed at all. Then again, when you have a gem the size of an ice cube on your ring finger, there's no reason to frown!