Commercials used to be a very cost effective and measurable way for businesses to get their messages out to consumers. Thanks to tracking systems such as the Nielsen ratings, advertisers could tailor their message to their specific target market watching certain programs and then measure the results in terms of eyeballs (and ultimately sales).

But things have changed recently.  The introduction of the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) has completely rewritten the rules of engagement for television advertising.  It used to be that advertisers could count on the bulk of viewers to sit through the commercials, with allowances for bathroom breaks, kitchen runs, and channel flipping.  Not anymore.  Now more and more viewers are DVRing the programs and watching them later, sans commercials.  Now advertisers are not only losing eyeballs, they can’t even accurately track how many.

A few bold advertisers have moved forward into this brave new world by jumping back to the past.  Product placement has snuck in here and there.  An episode of The Office prominently mentioned a product on sale at Staples.  Smallville featured Stride gum prominently in one episode.

But the use of product placement has not, as of yet, caught on.  There are several likely suspects in the lack of implementation.  The fear of negative feedback, actual negative feedback, and resistance from show runners afraid of losing artistic credibility are all possible reasons to keep product placement out.  But I think there is a more likely culprit: syndication.

Product placement would forever tie the program to the advertiser, limiting the marketability of the show for later syndication and tipping the balance of power away from the Hollywood elite and toward big business.  Syndication is big money for the TV studios: high reward, low risk money.  That isn’t something that they are likely to give up without a fight.

So while the obvious solution sits on the shelf, the turf war rages on.  Meanwhile we, the people, ignore the commercials and fast forward to the good stuff.

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