Mediacology

It’s strange that the NYT took so long to cover this issue, but now that the FCC will investigate branded entertainment– which ranges from product placement to complete brand universes– it is deemed news. This story actually gives me great confidence, actually, because it is a reminder that people do in fact have the capacity to ignore ads and negotiate their reality around them. I know I’m flogging a dead horse here, but I will repeat again that media critics need to look more closely at the spaces where people resist and contest marketing, instead of just at where they are being manipulated.

So That’s Why They Drink Coke on TV - New York Times:

ADVERTISING is often like a game of cat and mouse. Consumers try as hard as they can to run away from sales pitches and commercial jingles, so marketers continually seek new ways to hunt them down.
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One of the more popular tricks — oops, I meant to say tactics — advertisers are using today is branded entertainment, which ranges from plopping a Pepsi can into a scene to writing entire television scripts based around Oreo cookies. They like this approach so much that they’re increasing the money they spend on so-called product integrations at double-digit rates, making it one of the faster growth areas for an otherwise stalled television industry.

But does product integration dupe consumers? The Federal Communications Commission is considering investigating this question, and the commissioners may add it to their public agenda as early as Tuesday.

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