NEWS RELEASE
For More Information Contact: Robert Weissman (503) 235-8012
For Immediate Release: September 22nd, 2008
Commercial Alert Comments to the FCC
In June, five years after Commercial Alert first requested action, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced an inquiry into hidden advertisements and product placement—the paid inclusion of products in programming—on television and radio. Commercial Alert submitted comments to the FCC on September 22 in response to this inquiry.
“Our position remains consistent with that we urged five years ago: The Commission should issue a rule requiring disclosure of product placements and product integrations at the moment they occur,” says Robert Weissman, managing director of Commercial Alert, in the submitted comments. “In addition to simultaneous disclosure, we also urge the Commission to require, at the outset of a program, direct and easy to-understand explanatory disclosures about the nature of embedded advertisements in a program.”
“To watch TV today,” Weissman says, “is to be exposed to a staggering array of product placements, product integrations, product immersions, plot placements, paid spokespeople and branded entertainment—none of which are disclosed to viewers in any meaningful way. As a result, viewers are exposed to a torrent of hidden ads, and unable to apply the filters they normally use in watching commercials. Current product placement practices perpetrate a massive deception on the American public.” Read Commercial Alert’s full comments here. Attachments to the comments (2 MB) can be found here.
Commercial Alert will continue to monitor and communicate with the FCC as it continues its inquiry into this important matter.