A few weeks ago, my family and I decided to go see the latest installment of the "Jurassic Park" movies, "Jurassic World." Having not seen the previous three movies, I wasn't really sure what to expect. What I did expect from the movie was dinosaurs (isn't that why everyone went to see the movies to begin with?) who get killed by other dinosaurs, and Chris Pratt battling a bunch of dinosaurs.

What I didn't expect from the movie? The entrance to the "Jurassic World" theme park itself looked more like a jungle themed Universal Studios' CityWalk.

Now, I know that most theme park entrances usually have a bunch of gift shops and eateries before people get to the actual attractions. But if you don't believe that the entrance to Jurassic World looks more like an overblown outdoor shopping mall, here's an example of one of the actual brands that are displayed at the entrance.

If you can't make out what that is, it's a Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, a popular restaurant chain based on singer Jimmy Buffett's song "Margaritaville."

What's the connection? "Jurassic World" and its previous three movies are all owned by Universal. There is a Margaritaville at Universal Orlando's CityWalk.

If that connection isn't weird enough, Jimmy Buffett himself made a cameo in the movie during the scene where a flock of Pternadons terrorize the park and its patrons. Apparently, Buffett and producer Frank Marshall have been friends for 30 years and have worked together frequently. Talk about strange cameos in this movie that serve no purpose.

To add on to the grandiose image, "Jurassic World" even went as far as to create their own mock website of the theme park as a gimmick to convince people to buy tickets to the movie. On the website, there are mentions of other restaurants, stores and brands including Winston's Steakhouse (which is also seen in the movie), Brookstone, and Mike & Ike's.

But these aren't the only brands uncovered in this movie. The car that the park operations manager, Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), drives is a Mercedes-Benz. The hotel that brothers Zach (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins) stay at during their visit is a Hilton Hotel (which is also mentioned on the website).

All of the mentions of the brands in this movie, or any mention of a commercial brand in a form of media, is simply known as product placement. Product placement is a way for companies to expose their items in movies and television shows. It isn't so much a commercial for the product, but more of a display of that product within a scene of a movie or a television show. Product placement is nothing new. It's been going on in all forms of media for a very long time.

For example, phones play a powerful role in Netflix's "House of Cards." If you look carefully, Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) owns a Blackberry; Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) and Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara) own iPhones. All three of these characters have used their phones to their advantage throughout the series, making and breaking others along the way.

But I believe there's a difference in the way product placement is used. There's the product placement that plays a vital role in the story. In the case of "House of Cards" it shows that communication through the use technology is powerful, whether it's to reach one person or a whole nation.

Then there's the product placement where it plays no vital part to the story. It's just there. It's a form of incognito advertising. "House of Cards" had that, too. In the first season, one of the ways Frank managed his spare time away from the White House was playing his Sony Playstation Vita (although the logo for Playstation was "used with permission" in order to avoid copyright issues).

"Jurassic World" was the excessive example of product placement serving no vital purpose to the story. The stores and restaurants not only serve no purpose to the story, but also no purpose to the actual park. I get that the park is trying to aim at all generations of people by trying to become this luxurious island escape, but it's a dinosaur themed amusement park. What purpose is there for a Margaritaville to be at a dinosaur themed amusement park (when it's going to end up destroyed by a dinosaur anyway)?

So what does the future hold for product placement in the media? I'm not saying there's going to be more of it, even in the days of ad-free streaming, because sometimes it can be expensive for companies to pay to have their product be on the big or small screen. I'm not saying there's going to be less of it because there will always be a new product that companies want exposed.

We know when something is a car. We know when something is a Mercedes-Benz. We know when something is a phone. We know when something is an iPhone. When we notice a product, we know we notice it.

Product placement is a business strategy for companies and a minor detail in movies and television shows in order to add a more real-world feel to it. But we don't want a random product, like a Mercedes Benz or a Margaritaville, shoved down our throat out of nowhere in the middle of a movie. If it doesn't make sense for it to be noticed, don't have the camera pointed at the Margaritaville for three seconds in the middle of a chase scene.