They (the fat-cats) who run the tv in my country have no decided that it wil be ok to have product placement in our tv shows.

I dont really watch too much tv but i think this is really wrong,we have enough advertising all around us we dont need our tv stars holding up a new Nokia nr543343624564377868,cos it says in their contract they have too. I just all seems a bit much to me?

Can we not just keep the adverts we have and make our own minds up without having it shoved down our throats?

Lord help us........

You could always just not watch it.

How is it wrong? The fat cats you speak of are running a business. I don't know if you know this or not, but the entire point of television is not to entertain you, but to draw a crowd and then sell them shit.

Arrested Development did it the best.

"Did you know Burger King has free refills?"
"It certainly is a fine restaurant!"

there's already placement in the imported shows (plus it still won't be on the BBC, and apart from the C4 channels, I hardly watch anything else).
If it's done naturally, as in not forced down your throat like in the Bond movies for example, then I don't mind.. bbc news article was mentioning Mad Men, it doesn't bother me in that show, it feels appropriate.

I don't respond to advertising much anyway.. I respond to price and quality.

Plus if the alternative is having the incecent ad break like in the US/Oz.. I'd rather have the placement.. it's annoying enough on the commercial channels here, but I simply can't watch live tv in the US: you watch Ads with some programs in between them!!

You most certainly respond to advertising. Everyone does, it's everywhere. Whether you admit it (or realize it) is another story.

i understand if you complain about it on publicly funded tv, but on other stations? i don't see why it's such an issue...

I don't watch the ads, is this the same as stealing music?

I respond negatively to it.. as in put someone I like in an ad and I'll get pissed off both at the person and the product.

I never go for a product because I saw an ad, on the contrary if I think of an ad when I see a product I'm more likely to dismiss it (because I know that I pay a premium for that, rather than for quality for a start).
Even a GOOD ad (there are some interesting ads.. funny, well made, etc) doesn't make me more likely to buy the product.. I've never cared for brands, buy most of my grocery supermarket own brands (depending on price), have no attachment to clothes branding whatsoever (whatever is cheap enough and fit) and even my electronics purchases are based on reviews rather than brand.

Anyway I've got a great capacity at completely blanking them out on the web (aside from the adblockers I mean, I don't see them even when they're there), I rarely watch live tv anyway, and if I do when ads come up I go for a pee/beer/check my facebook..

so in terms of the response the advertisers want me to have, they fail.

supermarket brand ice cream is never as good though.

FTFY


anyways, of course product placement is okay. First of all 90% of the time its LESS noticeable than a fake can that says Cola, or a piece of electrical tape over the middle letter on a Kix box. It makes me feel, in some ways, that a show takes place more in the real world.

Also, If you want these shows worth watching to continue to exist, they need to remain profitable for the people that produce them. And with DVR becoming more and more popular, traditional commercials are becoming obsolete.

one time rescue me did it really bad with vitamin water. it was really noticeable and sort of hurt the episode. but usually i don't have a huge problem with it. like ez said, it usually is better than not having real products in a show. but it all depends on how subtle it is.

So you're responding to advertising.

someone tell me why this matters?

You respond to it without realising. The name's are hammered into your head...and at some point or another you'll have bought a product on the basis that you have heard of it on TV and hence trust it's of respectable quality.

it was illegal in the UK until now.
we also have FAR less commercial breaks, even on non-BBC channels (where there's no ads at all since it's funded by our TV licence)

I do whatever the people on TV tell me to do. I asked my doctor about Valtrex the other day. I don't even have herpes!

Dear Flavdave,




um, we need to talk.
Soon.

OH SHI-

Product placement is sooooo 1970's. Now, it's all about product INTEGRATION!!! (See: Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle) If you want people to buy your product, you need the whole fucking movie to be ABOUT your product.