Product Placement vs. Product Integration

Product Placement vs. Product Integration: "Not that long ago, I had a discussion with a seasoned veteran of television writing who was not happy with orders from above of blatant product integration in the show that person was writing for. It's been a common and growing complaint, so much so that the Writers Guild of America East recently released a statement calling for regluations of integration and inclusion of actors and writers both on the process of deciding appropriate uses of product integration and also to be included in the benefits. According to a story by Jon Lafayette for Television Week, the writers called for a distinction to be made between 'product placement' and 'product integration.' In this case, they are arguing against the use of blatant product placement versus natural product placement, an issue that has been close to our reserach over the past year, particularly through the research of my C3 colleague Alec Austin. Some television programs allow for product integration, using the WGA distinction, more than others. Particularly, it seems that reality television shows "