McDonald's pays to have cups (with fake coffee) on news desks

News Type: Event — Seeded on Tue Jul 22, 2008 8:11 AM EDT

Article Source: Las Vegas Sun

We've debated product placement before - particularly of tv programs - but this goes too far, product placement on a tv news show!

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Scott (Scoop) Butki's Column, All of Newsvine
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{"commentId":2260698,"authorDomain":"jessihibbs-sanders"}

Jessi Sanders

Everything we see on t.v is just about fake. Fake tans, fake boobs and actors even have their skin airbrushed so there are no imperfections. Fake, fake and more fake, I just now assume that is the way it will always be. I am 27 and I guess I was raised to think looks are everything when it comes to the appearance of things. I don't buy into it as far as people are concernd but I do when it comes to advertising a product.

{"commentId":2260698,"threadId":"317386","contentId":"1686032","authorDomain":"jessihibbs-sanders"}

3 votes

#26 - Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:39 PM EDT

{"commentId":2262580,"authorDomain":"jessannefran"}

jafran

Didn't the news anchors in the 50s and 60s used to smoke their sponsoring brand of cigarettes on air? Feel like I've seen it in old footage ...

{"commentId":2262580,"threadId":"317386","contentId":"1686032","authorDomain":"jessannefran"}

#27 - Wed Jul 23, 2008 4:41 PM EDT

{"commentId":2264176,"authorDomain":"1st-place"}

Juan Carlos Martinez

I think that a harmless use of a product would not be a problem, but when it steps over the line such as blatant advertising, then it goes too far. Just think if they took it a step further and the lady always wore a designer dress and handbag and proceeded to make it obvious that she was a walking (or in this case--seated ad) for the product. Normally on some shows like the morning news they have a coffee cup showing the Channel 5 or whatever number and logo on it. They have done this for years and has come to be an accepted form of branding. I think that the large McDonalds cups in front are going to far, because we rely on the news to be neutral. What happens when the next McDonald's story comes out on the news about bad beef or Mad Cow's Disease. Are they still going to be promoting McDonalds, or will there be a conflict of interest caused by them accepting advertising dollars from McDonalds? Will this keep them from presenting the Mad Cow disease story accurately as it pertains to McDonalds? These are things to think about when trying to decide if it is right to allow product placement like this. It is not difficult to envision corporate America controlling the news even more than they do already.

{"commentId":2264176,"threadId":"317386","contentId":"1686032","authorDomain":"1st-place"}

1 vote

#28 - Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:42 PM EDT

{"commentId":2264623,"authorDomain":"imsobackjack"}

Jack MeOff-389777Deleted

{"commentId":2267137,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}

Scott (Scoop) ButkiRestored

Poynter has a good piece I just seeded which provides a good big picture on this issue, an excerpt:

I'm receiving phone calls this week about a plan to use product placement during certain broadcast news programs. The product in question is a cup of coffee from McDonald's. In one version of the plan, McDonald's cups would be visible on news sets. The cups would not be real cups, just props that could not be spilled. Wouldn't want any real-life stains on those snowy scripts, after all, just the suggestion that our friendly anchors get their joe from Mickey D's.

To complain about such a practice is like complaining that a bunny has smuggled a rabbit's foot across the border. But someone has got to make a big deal out of this, so it might as well be me. I've got two goals in mind: to give journalists arguments for warding off this sleazy practice, and others like it; and to give news consumers the idea that, from now on, a warning light should go off anytime you see a professional journalist in proximity to a brand name. (Hey, why not just have product decals attached to reporters' hats and jackets, like NASCAR drivers?)

Product placement is as old as television itself, and probably older, but is associated most often with entertainment programming. I'm old enough to remember the days when Lucy and Ricky Ricardo smoked like chimneys on a show sponsored by Phillip Morris.

{"commentId":2267137,"threadId":"317386","contentId":"1686032","authorDomain":"sbutki"}

2 votes

#30 - Thu Jul 24, 2008 6:56 AM EDT

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SCOTT (SCOOP) BUTKI

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McDonald's pays to have cups (with fake coffee) on news desks

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