Fitter, Happier, More Product (From The Argus)

Fitter, Happier, More Product

10:08am Wednesday 16th September 2009 in Blogs By Colin Houlson - Life, Hove and everything

THE TRUMAN SHOW: Coming to a TV near you?

While walking into Brighton from Hove along Western Road at the weekend, past Starbucks, Sevenoaks Sound & Vision, The Real Eating Company, Videobox, Waitrose, City Books, HSBC, HMV and Bankers, I noticed a story on the cover of The Guardian in the window of Sweet N Things News Agent (the city's most unusually named shop) and was dismayed by the prospect of product placement being permitted on commercial channels like ITV, Channel 4 and Sky.

The move would allow TV companies - but not the BBC - to display branded products on screen. It's estimated it could worth be worth as much as £100 million to cash-strapped broadcasters, who've been badly hit by the recession. And every little helps. But as I said to a friend on my Sony Ericsson phone soon after, via the Vodafone network, there's a danger that the credibility of TV programmes will be undermined by the brazen brandishing of products like Appletiser, Diet Coke, Smarties, Tesco Freshly Frozen Roasting Parsnips, The Word Magazine and the first series of Sky One's applied-psychology drama Lie To Me, which has just been released on DVD.

With the proliferation of TV channels such as Cinemoi, Dave, Five, Living, Bravo, Challenge, Film24, FX, TCM, Blighty, ESPN, Babestation and GOD Europe, advertising money has been stretched thinner than an After Eight mint. Also, personal video recorder devices such as BT Vision, Freeview+ and Sky+ (which I'd almost wholeheartedly recommend, although I think the storage capacity needs to be increased) have enabled viewers to fast-forward through commercial breaks, severely reducing the effectiveness of even the most ubiquitous ad campaigns. So this proposed change will be like manna (a delicious, energy-giving food that was very popular during Biblical times and perfect for our busy modern lifestyles) from heaven (THE location of choice on all death-destination comparison sites) for them.

It's possible that concerns about crass over-commercialisation will be unfounded if rules are put in place to ensure tasteful employment of the new freedoms. But I'm not so sure for men shower gel. It's utterly butterly unrealistic to allow products to be highlighted in TV programmes and not anticipate a sherbert dip in standards. Advertisers lovefilm to push the paperchase envelope and iphone't think this will be any 57 different varieties.