FCC considers rule change for embedded advertising
By JOHN DUNBAR
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP)- When Wally and the Beaver came home from
school, their mom often had cookies and milk waiting for them.
These days, it isn’t just cookies but Oreos that are featured in
the plot of
”
7th Heaven.
”
The issue of product placement, in which brand-name items are
used as props in shows, is not new and has not generated much
controversy.
FCC considers rule change for embedded advertising
By JOHN DUNBAR
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP)- When Wally and the Beaver came home from school, their mom often had cookies and milk waiting for them. These days, it isn’t just cookies but Oreos that are featured in the plot of “7th Heaven.”
The issue of product placement, in which brand-name items are used as props in shows, is not new and has not generated much controversy.
It is the practice of insinuating products into actual plot lines, known as embedded advertising and product integration, that has raised concern.
Spending on embedded advertising has grown as advertisers look for new ways to reach viewers who flip channels during commercials or use digital video recorders such as TiVo to fast-forward past them.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) members are considering whether to require sponsorship identification notices to be in larger type, appear for a longer period on the screen or to appear at both the beginning and the end of programs.
They also want to decide whether to extend the disclosure requirements to cable and whether its existing policies regarding children’s programming already ban the practice.
Current rules require that sponsorship announcements be made “at the time of broadcast” and that “only one such announcement” must be made. Such disclosures are usually tacked on to the end of a show and, ironically, may be missed by people who use digital recorders such as TiVo.
PQ Media, an alternative media research firm, estimates that paid product placement spending grew 33.7 percent to $2.9 billion in 2007 thanks to greater use of digital video recorders and “increased TV program product integration,” according to the company.
Examples of embedded advertising cited by critics of the practice include episodes of “The Office” in which characters work at a Staples office supply store; a “CSI” show in which characters promote features of a General Motors vehicle; and a “Smallville” episode in which the dialogue included the line “Acuvue to the rescue,” a reference to the contact lens maker.
Everybody deserves to know when they are being advertised to, said Josh Golin, associate director of the campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, an advocacy group. Any advertising is unfair for young children because kids do not understand the intent of advertising until they are at least eight, Golin said.
“In a given week, Sponge Bob and American idol will be the top-watched shows for kids aged 2 to 11,” Golin said.
American Idol had 14 minutes of embedded advertising per episode this year, Golin said.
“That’s in addition to their regular commercial programming,” Golin said. “So, over half of the content that they are watching is actually an ad.”
Embedded advertising should have real-time disclosure, Golin said.
“If it’s before hand, a lot of people skip through that,” Golin said. “In order for viewers to be fully informed, it’s got to happen at the time that it’s going on.”
Jeffrey Perlman with the American Advertising Federation said running a crawl is an “absolutely terrible idea” and that it would be “terribly disruptive” for television viewers.
The FCC will consider new rules regarding the size and content of sponsorship notices, but the “real time” issue will be part of a less formal “notice of inquiry,” which will not propose new rules.
To file a comment with the FCC electronically, follow instructions at www.fcc.gov/cbg/ecfs/. Comments must be received by September 26.
Pinnacle reporter Jessica Ablamsky contributed to this report. She can be reached at [email protected].
