Paid for product placement on TV. The beginning of the end of independent content, or not?

Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fred_dela/

I am not sure yet what I think about the move to have paid for product placement in UK TV programs. As a consumer I fear that over time it will mean that writers and shows will either actively or, without realising the erosion, start to have story lines and the way things are shot and stories told increasingly influenced by the needs of brands paying for placement.


One of the most silly examples was in the last Peirce Brosnan Bond film where it felt like it was a series of action links between product placement usage shots. The first, and much publicised, paid for placement of a coffee machine in the daytime magazine program "This Morning" where it strangely sat in the background on a ledge trying to be innocuous, was almost worst as was irrelevant and odd. Plus no-one would have ever known if had not been for all the PR. So as someone working on brands, it felt like the hefty fee was a real waste.


I guess there will always be a tension, and maybe that is the best. The tension, conflicts and arguments helping to keep everyone honest and getting the best balance.


At the ThinkBox (TV industry promoter) seminar on Closer to Content, they addressed this issue - and also had some guidelines and thoughts that helped, recognizing that it is still a learning process.

For me, the 2 things that struck me most about the role of product placement playing a role over more traditional and direct promotion that seemed interesting were:

(1) To help normalize a product usage, by having it used in a particular context or occasion. This may be helpful when establishing a new brand or product category.

(2) When trying to have a brand seen as aspirational and desirable by having it used in these sorts of occasions that adds credentials and attributes. So in an up-market setting, or used by up-market or adventurous or whatever characters.

Saying that, I still think this could be a risky path and look forward to seeing how it plays out. For all the good intentions, I still think over time we will see a drift that ends up with compromised content. Maybe I am just too old school! But interesting times ahead.

Your thoughts?



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