Product Placement - Where Do You Stand?
By way of a financial lifeline to commercial television channels
, the British government is soon to lift the current ban on television product placement.
It's an interesting one this and a big U-turn for the UK government. Broadcasters are currently permitted to use products as props on screen only, and certainly not in exchange for payment.
At the beginning of the year, the then culture secretary Andy Burnham argued that lifting this ban would raise "very serious concerns" and risk blurring boundaries between TV production and advertising. However his successor, Ben Bradshaw, himself a former BBC reporter, believes that a lifting of the ban is "in principle" a good idea, particularly in the economic turmoil.
It would also put an end to the competitive disadvantage faced by UK programme makers; most other EU countries have lifted their restrictions. But how great an impact is it going to have on viewers?
Product placement has a long history behind it; it dates back as far as the nineteenth century and is today (at least outside of the UK) used by a wide range of advertisers as part of their marketing strategy.
So are they right to lift it? On one had it's argued that product placement is dishonest as it can be so subliminal; viewers being sold to without their knowledge. But as a spokesperson for ITV, a major champion of the lift has pointed out "reforming the UK prohibition would be a welcome acknowledgement of the pressures currently faced by an industry in transition. New sources of revenue means better funded content, which can only be good news for viewers."
I suppose it depends on the degree to which it's used - something that varies wildly. Some product placement is so subtle and well integrated that as viewers we hardly even notice it. At the other end of the spectrum however, the film I, Robot, for example, features product placement for, get this, Converse Trainers, Ovaltine, Audi, FedEx, Dos Equis and JVC all within the first ten minutes of the film.
It can also be argued however that some icons just wouldn't be right without the featuring of the products; James Bond wouldn't be James Bond without the Aston Martin and Martini now would he?
Talkback Thames, producer of The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent is also championing the move saying "(it's a) very positive move for the industry... if done properly product placement won't compromise the editorial integrity of a programme".
Richard Lindley, chairman of Voice of the Listener and Viewer, on the other points out that "Product placement destroys the trust of viewers in the programmes they are watching."
He's right; I have no doubt that if I mentioned Bluewood Training's name and merits endlessly throughout this piece you'd no doubt question the integrity of what you were reading. Something that a recent reviewer of Peter Kay's autobiography also found, commenting that his references bakers chain Greggs were so prevalent that she questioned his motives for doing so.
I have no doubt that as a viewer it will be entertaining to try to spot the placements, providing it doesn't become so prevalent that it affects my viewing. The important thing for the programme makers therefore is likely to be knowing where to draw the line between saving on revenue and cutting corners on artistic integrity. We shall see.
by: Gemma Carey
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