Product placement: over-hyped?
Adrian Coleman
New Legislation in the EU will, for the first time, allow European TV companies to follow the example set by their US counterparts and charge to feature products in programmes. Of course, this will have major implications for the British advertising industry, but whether it will be positive or negative remains to be seen.
Product placement in the media is not new. Its origins can be traced at least as far back as the 1950s, when soap powder companies created 'mini dramas' as a means of pushing their products. Fifty years on, TV is still...