Yet another thing ...

I don't worry about. Product placement in TV shows.

In case you haven't followed the news, the FCC is worried that product placement -- embedding a company's product into a program's story line rather than running a traditional paid ad -- is corrupting television viewers. PSHAW!

I'll admit that I'm sometimes influenced by advertising. I went to Sonic and had a banana split blast last night entirely because of their commercial. It was pretty tasty, though Sonic still can't match Dairy Queen when it comes to the blended ice cream treat.

That's what advertising is about -- making potential buyers aware of your product and hopefully convincing them to pony up the jack. Would it somehow be worse if I'd gone to Sonic not because of their ad, but rather because Dr. House had ordered one of his minions to fetch him a blast on his show? I don't think so.

Networks and advertisers pretty much have no other option. Tivo (and other DVRs) mean fewer and fewer people are watching commercials. A show may have a high rating, but if no one is watching the commercials, then I really don't see how it's going to charge premium prices for advertising. Product placement, on the other hand, seems to be an obvious solution. Plus, the practice could make TV more enjoyable -- if it resulted in fewer explicit commercial breaks.

Yeah I know it could go too far and I wouldn't enjoy watching my favorite TV character constantly point out the advantages of his Casio G-Force watch (for example). I'm thinking, though, that no one would enjoy watching that and shows would have to handle the process tastefully. I'll admit that it felt a little wrong when Heroes blatantly inserted the Nissan Rogue into some of their episodes, but it didn't destroy my moral center. Nor did it cause me to go out and purchase a new crossover SUV.

I honestly think I'm grown up enough to know when a product is being pushed on me. Despite that knowledge, I'm sure there'll be times when it'll influence my purchasing patterns, but so what? That happens with traditional ads, so why do I care what form the ad takes?

But hey, that's just me. Now I think I'll go and enjoy my yummy Snickers bar before class. [Don't you want to go buy a Snickers bar?]