"Any time a brand’s logo appears in a film — even if it’s just in the background somewhere — producers have to get clearance from the company to include it."
Why?
Why?
The Producer gets funding for their project from distribution company (Paramount, Disney, etc). The distribution company is the long-lived company that recurring revenue has to go to.
The distribution companies work as a cartel, whereby they have an existing revenue stream from all the product placements in existing films/tv that they want to protect. So as part of the Producer's contract with the distribution company, they must get the permission of the distribution company to include branded products in their films.