Warning: Products Ahead

Wall Street Journal

June 28, 2008

Hide the children: Commercial products are visible on network television. That's the urgent message from a clatch of public interest groups who wrote to the Federal Communications Commission last week demanding an end to "advertainment."

According to the signers of the letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin – including the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, the Parents Television Council and Public Citizen – the appearance of brands in sitcoms and soap operas is bad for us and for the impressionable minds of children. The media are "carrying messages that would otherwise be criticized by the public or even deemed illegal," the groups wrote.

So what are these nefarious products and messages infecting the airwaves? Well, Oreos, to pick one outrage. The chocolate sandwich snack has appeared in sponsored plot points of two installments of "Everybody Loves Raymond." According to the public interest scolds, peddlers of junk food and alcohol are among the culprits exploiting our airwaves.

Such suggestions are almost guaranteed to find a receptive audience among politicians. The FCC's Mr. Martin expressed concern last year over the increasingly "subtle and sophisticated" ways of weaving commercial messages into traditional programming. Congressmen Henry Waxman and Ed Markey also profess to see product placement as a manipulation of our "emotional connection" to TV characters. This conspiratorial view of advertising goes back to Vance Packard and the "Hidden Persuaders," the book unmasking the supposed media manipulation of the 1950s.

In reality, TV producers are trying to make programming pay in an age when more and more viewers are TIVO-ing through the commercials. Overall, product placement has risen 13% on network TV in the past year, as advertisers seek ways to get their products noticed without annoying customers. A ban on product placement will increase the incentive for broadcasters to offer more programming as pay-per-view.

The FCC said this week it plans to consider new rules that would require shows to more prominently notify viewers of sponsored products in their plot points. But where does it end? A lion's share of product appearances has come on reality TV shows like "American Idol." Professional sports, especially Nascar and your average pro golfer, are wallpapered with endorsement logos. Viewers already understand exactly what's going on when a TV character flaunts a name brand – and that awareness is the best defense against whatever "manipulation" is going on.

One of the things at stake in this election is who will run agencies like the FCC, which have enormous discretionary power. In the 1970s, at the height of the nanny state, these agencies were populated by meddlers who harassed business and raised costs for consumers. They're back on the march, and eager to tell you what's good for you – whether you like it or not.