America's Television Product Placement Rules

FCC Considering Tougher Disclosure Notices for Broadcast Programs

Jun 30, 2008

Parental, consumer and writer groups applying pressure as advertisers embed thousands of their products and services into television programs.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has indicated it may demand stronger disclosures about paid product placements in television programs. On June 26, 2008, the FCC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on product integration in TV programming.

Parental, consumer and writers groups want better product placement disclosures than the current ones, which are written in small type and displayed with the credits at the end of the shows.

"Sometimes there is disclosure, but it is virtually impossible for the average viewer to see because it is so small and passes by so quickly during the closing credits," Democratic FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein told Broadcasting & Cable. That was in February 2006, an indication of how long the problem has been simmering.

Parental, consumer and writer groups say the product placements are a form of advertising and should be better regulated by the FCC. Some critics have compared them to subliminal advertising. They say the business is growing rapidly.

Product Placements Rose 13%

A coalition of 31 groups reported that the paid placements rose 13 percent in 2007, totaling 26,000 in the top 10 television shows. According to Cecilia King in the Washington Post, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) counted about 160,000 placements on cable programs, including placements for Big Macs, Doritos and Cheerios.

The practice has accelerated as television viewers use their TiVos and digital video recorders to skip past television commercials. Advertisers hope to overcome that problem by embedding their products and services in the programs.

Martin Says FCC Wants Consumers to Recognize Advertising

In announcing the proposed rule making, FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin said "we want to make sure consumers understand and are aware that they are being advertised to."

Josh Goslin, a CCFC spokesman, said "when the boundaries of content and advertising are eroded, it makes children, in particular, more vulnerable to things like junk food -- Coca-Cola and Oreos -- when we are faced with an epidemic of childhood obesity."

The Washington Post said FCC plans to study whether the product placements notices "should be written in bigger print and displayed for a defined period. They are looking at adopting rules similar to those for political ads."

FCC rules require political sponsorships to be shown for at least four seconds. The type must be "at least four percent the height of a screen."

In his 2006 interview with Broadcasting and Cable, Adelstein said since FCC is "not set up as an investigatory agency, we're going to rely heavily on outsiders to provide us information" on product placement problems.

Writers Want ‘Real Time’ Disclosure

The Writers Guild of America has done just that, complaining that "the creative community is being forced to become advertisers." A spokesman told the Washington Post that studios are pressuring writers "to incorporate products into their scripts."

In a swift response to the proposed rule-making notice, the Writers Guild urged the FCC "to require on-screen 'real-time' disclosure when product integration occurs, in order to make viewers fully aware they are watching a paid advertisement."

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