Daily Reveille

Issue date: 2/25/08 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: Lauren Wesner LSU: Product Placement Spending

Product placement, the appearance of a product or service in a broadcast or movie, has become a popular method for marketers, but its growing dominance on television may soon face some new roadblocks.

Three of the Federal Communications Commission's five members voted earlier this month to review its product placement disclosure rules.

FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin said he is concerned with viewers' ability to recognize product placement.

"I believe it is important for consumers to know when someone is trying to sell them something, and that it is appropriate for the commission to examine these issues," Martin said, according to TV Week.

The FCC still awaits the votes of two remaining commissioners before proceeding with its review.

Emily Erickson, mass communication professor, said critics of product placement argue the public should know when they are being advertised to, and rules should help the public distinguish content from advertisement.

Commercial Alert, a watchdog consumer group, has voiced its concern to the FCC and even requested the commission implement rules to force media companies to disclose on screen when a product is being advertised.

But Erickson said she does not expect dramatic results from an FCC review.

The FCC is still a Republican majority which for years has deregulated the media landscape, she said.

Under current FCC rules, product placement has become a multi-billion dollar industry.

U.S. product placement grew almost 34 percent and reached a spending of $2.9 billion in 2007, According to a new study by PQ Media.

Erickson said product placement has grown throughout the years because of the FCC's gradual deregulation of television.

She said laws have changed during the past few decades, and a network can now own the production companies and programs it airs. This allows networks to make large profits from the shows by filling them with brand names.

Writers of TV shows are now told to incorporate products into the shows as props, verbal references or parts of plot-lines.

Students are not new to the idea of product placement in television.

Nicholas Gremillion, information systems and decisions sciences sophomore, said he objects to product placement that forces the show to adapt itself to a product.

He said this takes away from the plot and characters in order to promote the product.

Melissa Breen, mass communication sophomore, said she thinks it is inappropriate when product placement targets young children. She said this is unfair because young children often are not able to recognize advertisements embedded within other media content.

Some students said they notice product placement but are not fazed by it and do not feel the need to buy the products.

Lauren Adamson, marketing freshman, said she watches reality television and notices product placement in the shows. Adamson said she likes product placement because it helps her distinguish trends and fashions.



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Contact Alan Verdin at averdin@lsureveille.com

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