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RSSXinhua News Agency - CEIS
Hollywood guild lashes out at product placement in TV shows
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Writers Guild of America, west said Tuesday the growing use of product placement in episodic and reality television is "a disservice" to the American audience.
"What we are seeing now in television, and in particular reality television, is that product integration is blurring the line between advertising and content," Patric M. Verrone, the newly elected President of the Writers Guild of America, west, said in a statement.
"In many cases, sponsors' products are being integrated directly into the storyline," Verrone said, adding that such practices are turning the nation's favorite TV programs into infomercials.
He said it is time for the advertising industry and the networks to recognize that unbridled product integration is a disservice to the American audience.
Recent polls demonstrate that a significant majority of WGA members are concerned about the growing trend, according to a WGA statement.
In a poll of more than 400 WGA members in May, 73 percent said they found product integration to be either "not too acceptable", 27 percent, or "not at all acceptable", 46 percent.
Almost the same percentage of WGA members polled, or 74 percent agreed that "the line between content and advertising needs to be more firmly drawn," it said.
