Writers and Actors Unions Protest in Beverly Hills

Posted on February 8, 2006

The Beverly Hills Hotel was the scene of a real-live protest by 200 actors and writers. The writers and actors' unions are protesting the forced product placement in films and TV shows, which they say is hurting the quality of the stories as writers are forced to shoehorn random products into scenes.

About 200 actors and writers carried picket signs and chanted outside the Beverly Hills Hotel where agents, producers and brand directors were meeting with ad executives at a conference sponsored by Advertising Age, The Hollywood Reporter said. "Where are the voices of the creative community in this debate? Out here on the street," Writers Guild of America West President Patric Verrone said. The unions want the entertainment industry to establish a code of conduct for product integration into shows, The Reporter said.
Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg said members deserve both consultation and compensation. "Whatever happened to artistic integrity?," he said. "When did we lose the right to say yes or no?"

The product placements have gotten a little ridiculous lately: the lingering glances of a car's emblem during the middle of a chase scene, a ridiculously long pause while a sitcom character drinks a Coke are just two examples of the product placement craze. You'd think with all the product placements that we'd have less commercials. Instead, we have to pay for a feature film and then sit through 15 minutes of commercials in the theater. Now that's infuriating.