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TV networks are turning to product placements to fight back against ad-skipping technologies like TiVo, but now some writers are putting up a fight, demanding more pay in exchange for scripting product plugs into their shows.
The issue sparked open protest last month, with both the Writer's Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild calling for a "code of conduct" to govern the use of stealth advertising.
The complaints may seem like crocodile tears coming from TV writers. After all, Hollywood was once perceived as the destination for artistic sell outs. Although some writers couch their protests in terms of betraying their craft, the Writers Guild also cites a more pecuniary concern: Their members aren't compensated for working commercial messages into their scripts.
It's no small issue. The use of product placements has increased 84 percent on television in the last year, according to the WGA's call for regulations. "There is no clear line separating a TV show from an advertisement anymore," said Carrie McLaren, editor of Stay Free magazine.
In a recent episode of the NBC series Medium, writers had to work the movie Memoirs of a Geisha into the dialogue three times because of a deal the network made with Sony earlier in the season. They even had the characters go on a date to an early screening of the movie and bump into friends who had just viewed Geisha to tell them how good it was.
Another product placement intruded a touching scene on ABC's soap opera, All My Children, when writers were forced to incorporate a line about a new Wal-Mart perfume into the dialogue as a character, Greenlee, sat at the bedside of her husband who was suffering from a fatal gunshot wound.
Some writers are so angered by the process of appeasing advertisers they have begun to strike back with a website called Productinvasion.com that pokes fun at embedded products.
"We wanted to bring our message to the same demographic that the broadcasters are aiming at with their advertisements," said Heather Szerlag, a researcher for the WGA, who said there is much more planned for the site.
The pressure of having to incorporate products into a show, sometimes at the last minute, some writers said, is beginning to weigh heavily.
"Even if it's for a minute, product placement is intrusive to the story," said Scott Miller, a writer for the reality series American Dream Derby, which aired on the Game Show Network.
Writers aren't only complaining about the increased stress of writing entertaining stories that include undercover marketing messages. Some think they should be compensated extra for taking on duties not included in their job description. Disgruntled reality writers went so far as to barge in on an executive meeting recently, demanding better wages.
The WGA protest, aimed at Hollywood producers, could cause an even bigger inconvenience than interrupted meetings. The FCC, which requires all broadcasters to disclose their sponsors, could be brought in to do a federal investigation on TV product placements.
While the WGA hasn't filed a FCC petition, they have drawn up a list of demands. These demands include a full disclosure of all advertisers, strict limits on products placed in children's programming and a collective voice for writers on how products can be incorporated into story lines.
"If we don't say something now it's going to insulate itself and soon it will be too late," said Patric Verrone, president of WGA West.
