Product placementA B C D E F G H IJKL M N O P R S T U VXYZWand in clear focus – and pay programme-makers
considerable sums for the privilege of doing so.
In the movie Days of Th under (1990), Tom Cruise
wore black Levi 501s throughout and sales of the
garment went up considerably. Perhaps the clas-
sic coup in terms of product placement in movies
occurred when, in Independence Day (1996), Jeff
Goldblum saves the world, threatened by an
invasion of aliens, using his Apple Power Book.
Once an artefact is featured ‘in shot’, the
company then draws further publicity by adver-
tising the fact in its commercials. As the worlds
of big business and entertainment grow closer
and interlock – synergize – and as budgets for
fi lms and TV grow tighter, product placement
threatens to become more assertive throughout
the media. It has been estimated that in the US,
companies’ expenditure on product placement
exceeds the GDP of Paraguay; some US 10
billion a year, and growing.
Product placement was forbidden in UK
public broadcasting until 2005, when the Offi ce
of Communications (ofcom) signalled a future
loosening of regulation with a consultation
paper. In December 2010 the organization
published ‘Rules for product placement on TV
and paid-for references to brands and products
on radio’. Th e Audiovisual Media Services (Prod-
uct Placement) Regulations of 2010 amended
the 2003 Communications Act, the case being
put that the Rules for TV and radio ‘will enable
commercial broadcasters to access new sources
of revenue, whilst providing protection for audi-
ences’. Th e new regulations came into force in
February 2011.
Restrictions are placed on the types of prod-
ucts that can be placed, the types of programme
in which products can be placed, and the limits
of ways in which products can be seen and
referred to in programmes. Product placement
is permitted in films (including dramas and
documentaries), TV series (including soaps),
entertainment shows and sports programmes,
but not in children’s and news programmes or in
UK-produced current aff airs, consumer aff airs
or religious programmes.
Prohibited is product placement of alcohol,
gambling, tobacco, food or drinks that are high
in fat, salt or sugar, medicines and baby milk
banned by UK legislation. Th e ban extends to
products and services not permitted in UK TV
advertising. Th e rules state that ‘product place-
ment must not impair broadcasters’ editorial
independence and must always be editorially
justifi ed. Th is means that programmes cannot be
created or distorted so that they become vehiclesindeed the competitive edge which PSB
services have demonstrated in the face of the
commercial sector, have checked if not stayed
the hand of privatization – for the moment,
though the infl uence of the power elite in the
private sector will continue to bring pressure on
governments to serve private media interests
over public interests. See commanders of
the social order; cross-media ownership;
democracy and the media; deregulation;
mediapolis; network neutrality; ofcom,
office of communications (uk); public
sphere; regulatory favours. See also topic
guides under global perspectives; media
institutions; media issues & debates;
media: ownership & control.
Pro-con, con-pro In capturing the attention
of an audience, is it best to put good news or
good points (pro) before the bad (con), or after
them? Researchers have indicated that pro-con
generally works best. See primacy, the law of.
Producer choice Th e term used to describe the
operation of an internal market system within,
for example, the BBC for the purchase of the
services and facilities needed in programme-
making. Since 1993 producers have had control
over their budgets and have been free to buy
the services and facilities they need, such as
post-production, from the most cost-eff ective
provider. Th e BBC’s previous in-house providers
of such services and facilities thus have had to
compete with other providers for contracts from
programme-makers. Th e designer of the scheme,
Sir John Birt, then Director General of the BBC,
argued that the system would create a more cost-
eff ective and less bureaucratic organization and
thus enable more resources to be channelled into
creative areas.
Criticisms of the system are that it has
contributed to a reduction in staffi ng levels; that
it has accelerated the trend, partly attributable
to the increasing use of independent producers,
towards freelancing and casualization of
employment in the TV industry; that it threatens
the long-term prospects of in-house providers
and thus ultimately of the BBC itself as an orga-
nization concerned with making programmes
as opposed to commissioning them; and that it
may eventually result in a considerable loss of
expertise within the organization, thus a lower-
ing of standards in programme-making. See
independent producers.
Product placement A branch of modern
advertising, especially in the US, where agen-
cies place, in films and TV programmes, the
products of clients – brightly lit, facing camera