The Stage

Product placement could erode TV writers’ control over story, warns guild

Published Wednesday 2 July 2008 at 14:25 by Matthew Hemley

Exclusive: Screenwriters have spoken out against proposals to allow product placement on UK television, claiming the move would give them less editorial control and see advertisers and sponsors dictate a show’s dramatic content.

The concerns were raised in a letter to culture secretary Andy Burnham from the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, which claims that allowing labels and brands to be included in UK shows would damage the “integrity of British-scripted comedy and drama”.

Although product placement is currently banned in the UK, the European Union recently ruled that member states can choose to allow product placement in commercial TV programmes, excluding certain genres such as children’s shows.

EU member states are obliged to consider the EU directive and a UK consultation on the issue is set to get under way this summer, with the government due to give its final response next year.

However, the guild has outlined its concerns to Burnham ahead of this and has suggested that placement could lead to a writer having less control over a show’s story.

“Will sponsors and advertisers purchase the right to have a product, such as a soft drink or brand of clothing, featured in a scripted show?

“Or will they purchase a right to exercise editorial control over the humorous or dramatic content of the show? We would caution against any changes that fundamentally change the editorial decision-making process,” it said.

Writers’ Guild deputy general secretary Anne Hogben added that a “worst case scenario” could see a writer told that a character had to drink a certain product or drive a certain car and said: “It could mean a writer had to act as a free copywriter for advertisers.”

The guild has also raised concerns that product placement could lead to more dramas about wealthy people, arguing that “product placement tends to favour shows with an aspirational dimension - where characters enjoy a relatively high income and associated lifestyle”.

It said: “We need to ensure that product placement does not lead to an over-reliance on aspirational programming, or a reluctance to tell stories about marginalised, unpopular or lower-income groups.”

Although advertisers have been lobbying for product placement to be allowed following declining revenue from traditional TV adverts, Burnham has indicated the UK government is unlikely to allow it, claiming product placement would “contaminate” British TV programmes.

Hogben praised Burnham’s comments and said the guild and its members were “relieved and grateful to have a government minister speaking out in support of maintaining the integrity of British-scripted comedy and drama”.