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By Brigitt Hauck BBC News
Washing powder Product placement has a long history in the US
At the cinema we're used to seeing James Bond zip around in his Aston Martin
and the Sex and the City women sip branded vodka, but how will television
change when advertisers can pay for the same sort of product placement?
TV enthusiasts will soon notice a stark logo displayed for three seconds at the
beginning and end of television shows which have been paid to include products.
The new logo has been mandated by communications watchdog Ofcom and will appear
from 28 February.
For the 55 years of commercial television in the UK, viewers have been used to
seeing advertising mostly only during the commercial break. But on US
television there is a long history of product placement.
With varying degrees of subtlety, characters use products which companies are
trying to sell. The reason is straightforward.
It's natural to watch your favourite character sipping his favourite tipple and
then want a glass of bourbon or to watch a fast-paced thriller and feel
compelled to run out and buy the latest bit of consumer electronics gadgetry.
And that's precisely the goal of product placement.
A mobile phone manufacturer might pay for a character in Hollyoaks to use its
latest model or a chocolate firm might pay to have their confectionery featured
in Coronation Street.
American Idol judges Product placements are common on US television shows such
as American Idol
The US-UK disparity is clear on American Idol. In its original broadcast in the
US the judges on American Idol are frequently seen with Coca-Cola cups in front
of them. On British television, the cups are pixelated. But how would the
advent of this sort of activity change programmes in the UK?
"It will change the appearance to an extent because it will allow products to
be promoted in programmes in a way they haven't before," says media commentator
Steve Hewlett. "It's new, but TV won't change overnight."
Product placement in films and international programmes has been allowed on UK
television for many years, though commercial goods are often pixelated.
At present, brand names can only be placed in domestic programmes if no money
has changed hands.
These products are considered props and are used on terms of a trade. A
programme-maker decreases production cost by receiving a free prop and, in
return, the company supplying the prop gets free publicity.
Now UK viewers will see placed commercial products in dramas, sitcoms, soaps
and other programmes, but not on any BBC output, nor on any children's, news or
religious affairs programmes.
But the average person won't detect most product placement, says Hewlett.
"I'd be surprised if most people noticed. If they start noticing then something
is going wrong."
Placement logo
consumer affairs and religious programmes
and sugar; tobacco; medicines; alcohol; baby milk; weapons; and escort services
The eagle-eyed viewer, raised on American imports, might spot the prevalence of
a particular brand of laptop, but placement is never going to be a character on
Emmerdale looking into the camera and complimenting a particular brand of
coffee.
Paid placement won't work unless the product can seamlessly blend with the
editorial content, says creative branding expert Jonathan Gabay, of Brand
Forensics.
"You have to be careful about which brand goes in which programme because it
has to be appropriate. It's important to put the brand into context and to give
it meaning."
Even the television critics suggest producers and writers will subtly feature
brands by finding a delicate balance.
"I don't think it's going to muck up the programmes or have an artistic effect
at all," says Guardian TV critic Julia Raeside. "It'll be much more subtle than
that."
And the rules are strict.
Children's, news, current affairs, consumer affairs and religious programmes
will not air any paid product placements. Ofcom regulations also prohibit
gambling services; food and drink high in salt, fat and sugar; tobacco;
medicines; alcohol; baby milk; weapons; and escort services.
So Coronation Street's fictitious Newton and Ridley ale won't be turning into
Heineken any time soon.
There is going to be a big uptake on technical products such as laptops and
mobile phones, but it's far more likely that most of the paid product
placements will be fast moving consumer goods, like toothpaste.
Pierce Brosnan and Aston Martin James Bond films are known for their extensive
product tie-ins
Because these products need to be purchased month after month and consumers
tend to have less brand loyalty, the benefit to advertisers is greater, says Mr
Gabay.
Most people won't consciously notice whether the cereal is in a nondescript
plastic tub or a Kelloggs box, so they are more likely to buy the placement
brand the next time they are at the supermarket, he adds.
It's this subliminal hold on viewers that has the citizen and consumer interest
group the Voice of the Listener and Viewer (VLV) strongly opposed to paid
product placements appearing on UK television.
The group says product placements can reduce the integrity of TV, because they
are covert advertisements.
Regulations and signage is not enough, and the VLV would prefer product
placements be eliminated entirely, a spokeswoman for the group explains.
"When you have sporting personalities and stars eating certain foods and using
special products then the company is prepared to pay for it because it works,"
she says. "It has an impact particularly on vulnerable people and they don't
realise they are being manipulated."
"It's [paid product placement] very common in America and in films, but that is
no reason for us to reduce the integrity in the UK."
The concern that producers and writers will skew their content in the interest
of advertising revenue is understandable, says Hewlett.
"Editorial content and commercial messages need to be completely and
transparently separate. Product placement blurs that line because it puts a
commercial product right into the middle of the programme."
"The concern is probably overstated because if the programmes get worse the
viewers will vote with their remote controls. It would be entirely self
defeating."
Instead, the bored viewer can play spot the placement if they choose.