UK rethinks product placement plans

The UK government's plans to green-light product placement in locally produced TV shows is being watered down.
The ban on product placement in items involving alcohol, junk food, high-sugar drinks and gambling will likely make it more difficult for brands such as Coca Cola and McDonald's to pay to have their goods featured in British TV shows. In a letter quoted in the Guardian, media minister Ben Bradshaw, who told the U.K. TV industry last September that he intended to relax product placement rules, highlighted the new restrictions. He wrote: "Following consultation with the Department of Health, I propose to ban product placement in the following areas: alcoholic drinks, HFSS (high in fat, sugar or salt) food, gambling, smoking accessories, over-the-counter medicines and baby food." Introducing product placement in Britain, which is commonplace in the US, has proved to be a tortuous process.