November 14th, 2005
Hollywood Writers Push Back Against Product Placements
By Merissa Marr
Wall Street Journal
Fed up with being called upon to promote products in movies and television shows, Hollywood’s writers and actors unions are pushing studios to agree to new rules covering product placements.
The Writers Guild and the Screen Actors Guild complain placement practices hurt their artistic integrity and that they aren’t paid for helping to sell the products placed in movies and TV shows. “This intrusive process is getting more and more out of hand,” says Patric Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America West.
In a white paper set to be published Monday, the Hollywood entertainment guilds say they want to negotiate a code of conduct that includes disclosure at the beginning of each movie and TV program of the advertising that has been woven into the script. They also want the studios to put limits on the use of such advertising in children’s programming.
Network and studio executives argue they have no choice but to pursue such sources of income as technology makes it easier to skip traditional advertising methods such as the TV commercials.
Product placement has emerged as one of the most popular alternatives, giving advertisers the chance to feature their products in TV shows and movies. More recently, such placements have gone a step further by actually weaving the products into the storyline.
The Writers Guild of America cited Burger King Corp.’s placements on “The Apprentice” as one example, noting that Burger King products were incorporated into plot lines as contestants wore Burger King uniforms and flipped burgers as part of a challenge.
The Writers Guild asserts that the use of products in filmed entertainment jumped 44% last year, with revenue topping $1 billion.
If they can’t lure their employers to the bargaining table, the guilds say they will petition the Federal Communications Commission. The Federal Trade Commission this year rejected a request by the nonprofit advocacy group Commercial Alert to regulate product placement.
Comments
- Posted by Zeke on November 15th, 2005
i rarely watch tv these days except for a few programs, because of product placement. just tonight, i saw a rerun of mad about you, from 1995 which had an obvious in-episode ad for xxxx, a major home electronics maker ( i wont mention the name for obvious reasons). the antenae went up. i will be more vigilant the next time i watch that program, and if i see it again. thats it. goodbye to mad about you.
yes, tv is pleasant, yes we spend a lot of time watching, yes to all this, but, what do we want? we must pay for what we want. do we want product-placement free tv (for example), then we must pay a price, at least at the beginning. let us stop watching, and complain to the execs, and things will improve. it is an extremely sensitive market.