Fox's House, M.D. has a blink-and-miss-it product placement card in its closing credits, for companies like IBM, Dell, and Philips Electronics. So next time I’m in the market for an MRI, I’ll be sure to demand a Philips. Except … bad things happen to Dr. House's patients in that Philips MRI. Maybe the company should pay to have the producers use Bob’s Brand MRIs instead.
Full disclosure would make our role as active viewers and educated consumers easier, though I'd want that disclosure to be clearer than House's “production assistance furnished by ..." or the ever-popular “promotional consideration provided by ...". How about the clarity of: “Dell paid us to use their computers"?
Most viewers don't seem to care that Jack Bauer drives only Fords on 24. Scattered complaints and grumblings are unlikely to stop producers from exploring this revenue stream further, especially since advertisers fear the fragmentation of the market and power of TiVo, other digital recorders, and downloads to cut into their captive audience in a far, far bigger way that remote controls and bathroom breaks ever did.
So the fundamental question is what are we willing to pay for the convenience of new methods of delivery that reduce the prominence of conventional ads? If this is one stepping stone on the networks' slow, stumbling path towards accepting the potential of current technology and legal electronic distribution, I'll happily watch Dr. House listen to his Apple iPod and play his Nintendo Gameboy Advance, and see Ty Pennington make homeowners cry over their new Kenmore appliances.
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(See my previous post on electronic distribution: TV enters a brave new cyberworld. Visit my blog, Unified Theory of Nothing Much for more random thoughts on life and entertainment.)
Article comments
1 - Rich Powers
Advertising evolves to meet the demands of the times and I see this trend continuing. But product placement isn’t reserved for television. Movies and even video games are getting the treatment (here's an article about in-game ads in one of Sony's PC games).
While a disclosure would be nice, I highly doubt us viewers will ever get one. If they can get away with the three pt. font for important finance information on car commercials, than they can surely get away with briefly flashing a disclosure list.
I just hope the writers don’t let the advertisers take too much control...otherwise things could get real hokey.