19 November 2005
Product Placement on TV
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The delicate line between art and commerce is crossed every time you turn on the TV these days, when it seems as if we're being sold the latest product from some snappy advertiser...and it's not in the ads, we're talking actual TV programs.
It's the art of product integration – characters in TV shows drinking brand name drinks, using big brand computers, and TV closeups of the logos at all times.
It's big money for advertisers – but groups like Commercial Alert in the US say that increasingly TV shows are becoming glorified infomericals...
Even the Screenwriters Guild in the US have called for a new code of conduct when it comes to product integration. They claim advertisers are out of control...So are we to be alarmed or just alert?
Guests
Norm Marshall
Normal Marshall Associates, based in California
Gary Ruskin
Consumer Advocacy Group - Commercial Alert
