Product placement on TV: too much, too little, or who cares?

While Nielsen research indicates that product placement advertising is thriving on television, various groups are offering the Federal Communications Commission very different perspectives on what to do about the problem, assuming they think there is one. A self-described "alcohol industry watchdog" wants a crackdown on embedded ads for booze. A think tank says drop the issue altogether. Public TV just wants to be kept out of the rule-making loop. There is lots of research on product placement awareness. Some suggests that some TV viewers, especially adolescents and teens, are quite aware of embedded ads and think that they affect others more than them. Kids in these age ranges are pretty media-savvy these days, optimists will argue, and know that they're a sought-after market. On the other hand, as one FCC Commissioner often points out, preadolescent children are far less able to distinguish between commercial and noncommercial fare.