TiVo causes surge in product placement
Created By: justiceclown
Last Modified: 12/20/05
Summary: What's a greedy TV executive to do? TiVo lets people skip the commercials! Well then, we'd better turn every show into an infomercial, quick!The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) requires all television shows to outrightly name their sponsors, so the public will be aware of who is paying for their television shows. But have these new product placement advertisements been subject to the same rules? As of yet.. no. When will the FCC step in and take control in this debate?
Writers, actors and directors are all outraged at this new trend in ultra-product placement. Having a character drink from a pepsi can is one thing, but changing a storyline so the characters visit a pepsi bottling plant in the middle of a high speed chance is another thing. Though that example hasnt happened yet, many in the industry are afraid that demands like that one might come through sometime soon. The Screen Actors' Guild and Writers' Guild of America are taking action against these invasions, asking that writers be paid more to write in these commercials, and that there be an industry "code of conduct" written up to govern these intrusive advertisements.
EXAMPLES of this new wave of product placement
- In a recent episode of NBC's "Medium," writers had to re-write the show to include three references to the new movie "Memoirs of a Geisha." The characters went to an early screening of the movie and just had to talk about how great it was to friends they ran into on the town.
- "All My Children" character Greenlee casually slipped in a commercial for a new Wal-Mart perfume as she sat by the hospital bed of her husband, dying from a fatal gunshot wound.
- "Battle of the Sexes II," heavily sponsored by Verizon wireless recently had a contest in which a small verizon phone was encased in a block of ice which contestants had to remove without using tools. The show was edited together, until verizon executives decided they didn't like the final cut, and it was changed to fit their demands!
Product placement has always been a part of film and television. After all, isn't Hollywood the first place you go when you want to sell out your art for money? But now, with the advent of TiVo and similar technology, people fast forwarding and skipping commercials have left advertisers with nowhere to turn.. except into the shows themselves.
Link: Product Invasion!
Summary: A website made by tv and film writers to expose this disgusting new trend.
