Joining Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood and 23 three other advocacy and consumer groups, UCC's OC Inc. recently urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to immediately adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on product placement and product integration, citing the increasingly blurred lines between television programming and advertising. The letter stated, "We are deeply concerned that these stealth advertising salvos were being aired during a nationwide epidemic of obesity and diabetes, when food producers were under scrutiny for their marketing tactics." 
 
Product placement occurs when companies pay to place products, such as a can of Coke, within a television show.  Instead of an advertisement, viewers see the products as part of the storyline.  FCC rules require broadcasters to disclose payment for product placement, but it is often uses complicated and wording such as "promotional consideration was provided by Kraft" at the end of the show.  Thus, parents and viewers often do not understand the placement is essentially an advertisement.  
 
The FCC is planning to look into changes to the rules, but CCFC and UCC were concerned that the FCC was going to issue a weak proposal.  UCC's and CCFC's letter encouraged the FCC to lay the groundwork for implementing strong rules more quickly than many advertisers would prefer.
 
The letter described the data demonstrating an increase in product placement, its harm to children, and expressing concern.  "This lack of transparency invites abuse. We must not allow television programs to become Trojan horses, carrying messages that would otherwise be criticized by the public or even deemed illegal. … In a democratic society, public response is a necessary counterbalance to commercial speech. When the source of these commercial messages – and even the message itself – is hidden, the public cannot fulfill its role."
 
See the letter here

See CCFC's resource page on advertising and the FCC here