Page 193 - Battleground The Media Volume 1 and 2

1 | Hypercommerc al sm

that television and radio programming was to be paid for by corporate sponsors.
But the controversy did result in broadcast regulation that required networks
and station owners to broadcast in the “public interest, convenience and neces-
sity.” Advertising would pay for TV programming and commercialism came to
be the dominant force in American media, the ramifications of which we are
only now beginning to fully understand.
In the 1950s, one sponsor paid to produce each program. This practice gave
way by the end of the decade to spot advertising, which continues today. Com-
mercials inserted during programming breaks are purchased by multiple ad-
vertisers at negotiated prices determined by a combination of ratings, program
demographics, time, content, and availability. In recent times, commercial mes-
sages have lost some of their persuasive power as ads become shorter, more
frequent, and easier to zap (for example, TiVo). In addition, viewers are media
literate and wary of such overt persuasions. Celebrity endorsements help, but
now celluloid and video stars pitch everything from aspirins to phone compa-
nies. Audiences have come to know that every endorsement has its price, mak-
ing them a little less effective. But when stars use products in movies and TV
programs, it still appears to be the discourse of entertainment, not sales. In a
strategic game of leapfrog, advertisers step up persuasive technique and media
strategy as the old ones lose some of their punch.
Now promotional messages are no longer restricted to spot advertising. In
the age of deregulation, when restrictions on the number of commercials al-
lowed in any hour of programming have been removed, contemporary televi-
sion places products into just about every nook and cranny of airtime. Although
spot advertising is not going away, it now coexists with product placement, a
practice that embeds the promotion within the program. Both advertising prac-
tices continue to evolve, and as they do, critics charge that they exert inordinate
influence over TV programs and feature films alike.

inFLuEnCing mEDia ConTEnT
Placing brands in films really took off after 1982 when Steven Spielberg’s cute
alien, ET, ate Reese’s Pieces and sales shot up. Then, in 1983, Tom Cruise wore Ray
Ban sunglasses in the movie Risky Business. Public interest researchers Michael
Jacobson and Laurie Mazur noted that in one month Ray Ban reported sales of
18,000, more pairs of that style sold then during the previous 3 years. As plugging
in film came to be understood as the industry’s golden goose, agencies directed
more clients toward the movies, and as advertising interest rose so did its influ-
ence on films. Media scholar Mark Crispin Miller first noted that films with prod-
uct placement contained scenes that slowed the pacing to feature products; had
more mythic, less complicated heroes; and ended on a happier note. In essence,
the films moved closer to the upbeat, singular attitudes of commercial design.
These changes were predictable consequences of embedding products in story
lines, and they follow the conventions of industry wisdom. Ads must not stand out
from the landscape of media, rather, they must be integral parts of entertainment
geography. From the early day of commercials on television, broadcast historian