product placement in monocle manga

I'm truly enjoying reading the Kita Koga manga that comes with Monocle magazine (story and art by Takanori Yasaka). Kita Koga is the story of Niels Watanabe, code name Koga, a cosmopolitan, kick-ass, modern agent, who works for a secret intelligence division in Japan's Defence Ministry. Niels is part Japanese, part Scandinavian, and jets around the globe in his missions. One of the interesting things about it is the product placement. Though they obviously promote the sponsors, the brands here help bring the story closer to reality, so to speak, it's something we recognize. Take a look at the collage below: Niels drives an Audi, drinks Carlsberg, and uses a Prada mobile phone (though perhaps a Sony-Ericsson would've been a better fit).Can't wait for the May edition to come out.