LETTERS; Pseudo-editorial

AdMedia,  Oct 18, 2004  

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Dear Ed: Flipping through the Special K Triathlon training supplement that came packaged with my copy of She magazine, I was struck by how well integrated the product placements and other promotional mentions were into the main body of the document.It raises an interesting point of advertising ethics, however, one that I'd like to put to your readers.

How much responsibility do we have to ensure that the general public does not mistake paid-for advertising with editorial?As publishers and broadcasters scramble to address falling audience results, they are increasingly willing to blur the distinction of paid-for mention from editorial. In a lot of cases, the product placement is obvious and acceptable to consumers, who are (typically) savvier than we give them credit for. Most could probably identify that a major car company has paid to have their car featured as a prize for a reality show contestant, but what about the pseudo-editorial endorsement format of mini-programmes like Zoot Review and Brand Power?Or see Page 8 of the aforementioned supplement - are those product placements as clear, given that they're presented in such a similar format to She's regular editorial features? What is ACP Media's ethical responsibility in this case?Ed, I'm embarrassed to say that I'm not in a position to identify myself, as the issue I raise here is one in which I'm intimately involved. I do hope you'll pose it to your readers; I'd be keen to read their response.A friend in mediaAuckland

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