Television newscast "ads" product placement

KVVU in Las Vegas has been doing something different with their morning newscast: product placement. On the set are what look like two McDonald's Iced Coffees, ready for the anchor to enjoy. They are not real iced coffees, of course, but look-alike props. But it's not the fact the anchors still have to drink in-studio coffee that's making journalist cringe. It's the fact that there is product placement on the television in the first place.

Product placement is having a product from an advertiser visible inside your product, whether it is a video game, movie or television program. The advertiser pays money to get their product seen, preferably in a "realistic" environment where people can relate to the product better. Product placement is often met with criticism, accusing media companies of "selling out" to advertisers, for giving up editorial control of content in exchange for a few bucks. Even the Miami Herald's TV critic half-jokingly accused KVVU of prostitution for this promotional stunt.

Holly Steuart, vice president and general manager at KVVU, told Broadcasting & Cable that there have been no complaints since the introduction of McDonald's to the set two weeks ago. “Sponsorships have been part of news for a long, long time,” Steurart told B&C. “People need to give viewers a little more credit.”

Indeed. Newspapers for years now have run ads on the front page. You can rarely find a single page that does not have an ad, in any metro market newspaper. News radio stations have more commercials per hour than actual news. (Or so it feels like sometimes.) And news web sites will contain ads from sponsors inside the news article itself. So why should the appearance of a few low-key ads, which air during a mixed news/entertainment program, raise any eyebrows? For the same reason that television and movie people fear product placement: infringement on editorial control.

Barbara Cochran, president of the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA), told B&C that KVVU has not violated any guidelines because the advertiser has no influence over the news content. But she said that the RTNDA is "rethinking the guidelines in light of the growth of product placement generally." No one wants to lose control, especially news directors. And when you get advertisers involved in your show, not just in your commercial breaks, you run the risk of advertisers making demands, expecting more placement, and perhaps assuming that they can get some editorial control.

Is that an alarmist point of view? Perhaps. That rarely happens in newspapers, the Internet or radio. But seeing ads with the news on television is a mysteriously new and untested land. And until we know how people can react to it, and how advertisers and directors can deal with it, product placement in newscasts will remain a touchy subject for some time to come.