government moved to crack down on so-called "advertainment" during TV programming.

The Parents Television Council

Last week, the government moved to crack down on so-called "advertainment" during TV programming...and the PTC had a hand in the victory!

Television is seeing the increasing use of both "product placement" and "product integration" on TV shows. "Product placement" occurs when a brand-name item or logo is shown on a screen during an entertainment program -- a can of soda pop or a box of detergent, for example. "Product integration" happens when a specific brand-name product is made a part of a storyline in a program. The Nielsen TV rating service reports that the number of product placement occurrences in primetime broadcast network television increased 13% in 2007. The same year, the networks' revenue from TV product placement increased an incredible 34%!

This is a source of potential concern for parents, because scientific research has demonstrated that product placement and integration have a definite influence on younger children and teens. Children in particular are vulnerable to these techniques: every parent has experienced a child begging for something they've seen on TV. Television programs should not become Trojan horses carrying messages that convince impressionable children to think they need still more toys and junk food.

On June 19th, the PTC joined 22 other organizations, including the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, Children Now and the United Church of Christ, in demanding that the Federal Communications Commission rein in product placement and integration. In response, on June 26th the FCC commissioners voted new rules requiring that viewers be more clearly notified when television advertisers have paid to feature products on television programs. News of the PTC's victory was carried by the Wall Street Journal, Reuters and Broadcasting & Cable, among others. Once again, the PTC is moving to protect children from the dangerous influences on television -- both on programming and in advertising.

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Boren's Laws of the Bureaucracy: 1. When in doubt, mumble. 2. When in trouble, delegate. 3. When in charge, ponder.