Commercial Alert Asks FCC, FTC to Require Disclosure of Product Placement on TV

Tue, 30 Sep 2003 06:08:04 -0700

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*NEWS RELEASE*

For Immediate Release: September 30, 
2003                                               
For More Information Contact: Gary Ruskin (503) 235-8012

*Commercial Alert Asks FCC, FTC to Require Disclosure of Product 
Placement on TV*

Commercial Alert today requested the Federal Communications Commission 
and the Federal Trade Commission to require prominent disclosure of 
embedded advertising on television, including product placement, product 
integration, plot placement, title placement, paid spokespersons and 
virtual advertising.  Increasingly, programs with these embedded ads 
resemble infomercials.

Commercial Alert's petition to the FCC contains a request for a 
rule-making to require conspicuous and concurrent disclosure of embedded 
ads on TV, a complaint against TV networks for failure to comply with 
federal sponsorship identification requirements, and a request for 
investigation of current product placement practices on TV. Commercial 
Alert also asked the FTC to investigate TV product placement practices, 
and to issue new guidelines for disclosure of TV product placement.

"Embedded advertising is the new reality of television, and it is time 
for the Commission to address it.  TV networks and stations regularly 
send programs into American living rooms that are packed with product 
placements and other veiled commercial pitches.  But they pretend that 
these are just ordinary programming rather than paid ads.  This is an 
affront to basic honesty," wrote Commercial Alert in its petition to the 
FCC.

"To prevent stealth advertising, and ensure that viewers are fully aware 
of the efforts of advertisers to embed ads in programming, the 
Commission should require TV networks and stations to prominently 
disclose to viewers that their product placements are ads.  In addition, 
product placements should be identified /when they occur."/

The FCC and FTC documents are available at:
http://www.commercialalert.org/index.php/category_id/1/subcategory_id/79/article_id/191

Commercial Alert is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is 
to keep the commercial culture within its proper sphere, and to prevent 
it from exploiting children and subverting the higher values of family, 
community, environmental integrity and democracy.

Commercial Alert has more than 2000 members, representing all 50 states 
and the District of Columbia. For more information, visit our website at 
http://www.commercialalert.org <http://www.commercialalert.org/>.

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NEWS RELEASE 
For Immediate Release: <st1:date
 month="9" day="30" year="2003">September 30, 2003</st1:date>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
 
For
More Information Contact: Gary Ruskin (503) 235-8012 

Commercial Alert Asks FCC, FTC to Require Disclosure of Product
Placement on TV 
 
Commercial Alert today requested
the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission
to require
prominent disclosure of embedded advertising on television, including
product
placement, product integration, plot placement, title placement, paid
spokespersons and virtual advertising.&nbsp;
Increasingly, programs with these embedded ads resemble
infomercials.<o:p></o:p> 
 
Commercial Alert&#8217;s petition to the FCC contains a request
for a rule-making to require conspicuous and concurrent disclosure of
embedded
ads on TV, a complaint against TV networks for failure to comply with
federal sponsorship
identification requirements, and a request for investigation of current
product
placement practices on TV. Commercial Alert also asked the FTC to
investigate TV
product placement practices, and to issue new guidelines for disclosure
of TV product
placement. 
 
&#8220;Embedded advertising is the new reality of television, and
it is time for the Commission to address it.&nbsp;
TV networks and stations regularly send programs into American
living
rooms that are packed with product placements and other veiled
commercial
pitches.&nbsp; But they pretend that these are
just ordinary programming rather than paid ads.&nbsp;
This is an affront to basic honesty,&#8221; wrote Commercial Alert in
its
petition to the FCC. 
 
&#8220;To prevent stealth advertising, and ensure that viewers are
fully aware of the efforts of advertisers to embed ads in programming,
the
Commission should require TV networks and stations to prominently
disclose to
viewers that their product placements are ads.&nbsp;
In addition, product placements should be identified when
they occur.&#8221; 
 
The FCC and FTC documents are available at: 
<a
 href="http://www.commercialalert.org/index.php/category_id/1/subcategory_id/79/article_id/191">http://www.commercialalert.org/index.php/category_id/1/subcategory_id/79/article_id/191</a> 
 
Commercial Alert is a national nonprofit organization whose
mission is to keep the commercial culture within its proper sphere, and
to
prevent it from exploiting children and subverting the higher values of
family,
community, environmental integrity and democracy. 
 
Commercial Alert has more than 2000 members, representing all 50 states
and the
<st1:State><st1:place>District of Columbia</st1:place></st1:State>. For
more
information, visit our website at <a
 href="http://www.commercialalert.org/">http://www.commercialalert.org</a>.
<o:p></o:p>
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