FCC to Examine Media Commercialization

Citing video news releases, product placement and interactive television aimed at children, FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein has asked the FCC to expand its investigation into product placement disclosure and strengthen guidelines. As reported in As Age, Adelstein told the Media Institute, "People out there are frustrated by what they see as fake news and relentless marketing. The use of covert commercial pitches is penetrating deeper and deeper into our media."

While our normal pithiness calls for us to poke fun at government agencies creating rules that assume people are stupid and can't figure things out for themselves, we, believe it or not, feel some control is warranted. Advertising, because of people's increased ability to ignore it, is getting desperate. very desperate. A roadblock buy once meant buying every spot on every network during a single time period or plastering posters over an entire subway station. It now means, literally, creating an advertising barrier so intense, so pervasive one would have to leave the solar system to avoid an ad. It's reached the point on insanity as marketers, who are not entirely at fault since they are faced with intense media fragmentation and consumer control over media, grasp for any and all possible means to get their message in front of potential customers.

While inviting the government into things is not always the best solution, something, anything is needed to guide the advertising beast as it relentlessly seeks eyeballs with cash.

by Steve Hall    May-26-05   Click to Comment   
Topic: Policy, Product Placement   

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Comments



Comments

Advertising is a balloon. Squeeze here...and it will inflate somewhere else. The ballon will never change is original size. It will just become more militant in its reaction to being squeezed. Moral....get out the Charmin

Posted by: kab on May 26, 2005 3:56 PM

THERE IS TOO MANY COMMERCIALS BEING AIRED TOO FREQUENTLY ON CABLE TV. NOT ONLY DO WE HAVE TO PAY TO WATCH TV BUT WHEN 25% OF PROGRAMMING TIME....OR MORE.... IS USED UP ON PRODUCTS THAT I AM ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO BOYCOTT WHEN THEY ARE BUNDLED TOGETHER IN GROUPS OF 8 TO 10 EVERY 10 TO 15 MINUTES IN A PROGRAM, IT IS JUST TOO MUCH.
IT IS TIME THAT OUR GOVERNMENT INTERVENED. IF THE TV STATIONS CANNOT BE REASONABLE THEN IT IS TIME FOR LEGISLATION RESTRICTING COMMERCIALS TO 30 SECONDS MAXIMUM AND TO NO MORE THAN 3 BUNDLED TOGETHER A MINIMUM OF 20 MINUTES APART.THERE SHOULD BE NO COMMERCIALS IN THE FIRST 45 MINUTES OF ANY PROGRAM SLATED TO RUN FOR 120 MINUTES AFTER THE INITIAL BOMBARDMENT OF COMMERCIALS . IT WAS SO NICE IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS TO SEE ONE COMPANY SPONSOR AN ENTIRE PROGRAM WITH ONE TASTEFUL PRESENTATION AT THE VERY BEGINNING. (TEXACO USED TO DO THIS, AND I STARTED BUYING THEIR PRODUCTS BECAUSE OF THIS.I BOYCOT THOSE WHO ARE BUNDLED TOGETHER IN LARGE GROUPS OR ARE SHOWN BACK TO BACK.

Posted by: LD on June 6, 2005 11:41 PM