Audiences spit out too many advertisements at parties and variety shows.
"This is not a party, it is simply ‘ Advertising conference ’ There are several programs mixed in "The meaning of the host’s existence is to read advertisements" and "The Lantern Festival without advertisements is comfortable to watch" … … In order to welcome the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, CCTV and David have launched large-scale parties. The reporter of "Rule of Law Daily" recently browsed social media and found that for some parties, the audience frequently "spits" and a large number of advertisements have become the main "slots".
It is worth noting that a large number of advertisements are implanted in some parties, which has become a common phenomenon in recent years. Many netizens said that some advertisements even ran through the party and were repeatedly mentioned by the host. Too many advertisements greatly affected the viewing experience. "Waiting for the live broadcast in front of the TV set, I finally waited for the party, but the ubiquitous advertisements made it difficult to concentrate on watching, and it was very jumping."
The reporter learned that from the perspective of the party producers, advertising is directly linked to sponsorship funds, which plays a vital role in program production and star invitation. But too many advertisements have become a "crowd-out" move for the audience. How to balance the relationship between them? Is excessive product placement suspected of violating laws and regulations? Should the number of advertisements be limited? With these questions, the reporter launched an investigation.
There are too many advertisements in the party.
Affect the audience’s viewing experience
"After the singer finished singing, he was taken by the host to a rest area on the side of the stage, where not only the products and logos of a certain brand were placed, but also the advertisements of the brand were scrolled at the bottom of the screen. The host and singer brought out the brand advertising words in the form of chat, and the whole process lasted for 5 minutes. I am blinded by the whole person. " Ms. Liu, who works in Chaoyang District, Beijing, still remembers the advertisement at a party during the Spring Festival this year. "It’s my favorite singer. I wanted to continue listening to him, but I was forced to watch a long ‘ Advertising performance ’ 。”
In recent years, the placement of advertisements in parties, variety shows and film and television dramas is too blunt and excessive, which has gradually become one of the problems reflected by the audience. In this year’s New Year’s Eve party of a satellite TV, the advertisement of a home brand is eye-catching. The brand name always appears in the lower right corner of the screen, and there are huge brand pictures on both sides of the main stage. When the camera zooms in, it almost occupies half of the screen, and the red background is particularly eye-catching in the dim scene. In the following time, the host and guests talked about the room decoration one by one, and the host even introduced the sofa and massage chair beside him. After 3 minutes of introduction, the next program was reported.
Mr. Zhang, a citizen of Tianjin who watched the party, said that it was even difficult for him to focus on the program being performed, and he remembered who the sponsor was after watching the whole party, which seriously affected the viewing effect.
The reporter observed many parties through playback and found that there were a lot of advertisements implanted in each party. From the host’s announcement to the stage layout to the performance, the advertisements provided by sponsors are everywhere, and there are various forms: there are brand logo； that occupy almost the whole background board; There are also ubiquitous brand animations; There is also a long advertisement for the audience during the program.
Most of the party advertisements are not "solo" of a single brand. In a series of programs at a party, two hosts sat on the sofa, and the table in front of them was filled with products provided by major sponsors, including drinks, mobile phones, alcohol and health care products. The desktop was piled up, and the camera gave these products close-ups many times, and the limelight was even better than that of the hosts.
Advertising is overwhelming and pervasive, which directly affects the audience’s viewing experience. "One second I was still enjoying the song, and the next second I seemed to switch to the shopping channel. I didn’t want to miss the next program, so I had to sit through this embarrassing ‘ Episode ’ 。” Netizen Xiao Qing said. Not long ago, while watching the party, she posted on the social platform: "It’s not just the stage background that advertises, but an advertisement will suddenly appear in the host’s announcement, sketch and program, and even the actor star will start introducing the product. I think I can’t wait to put the product directly in front of me."
Yu Chen, who lives in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, bluntly said that the significance of some parties at present is more like making money, and the audience’s feelings are not taken into account. The more advertisements are added, the more money the organizers will earn. "This obviously goes against the original intention."
"Poor product placement is hard to accept, and most advertisements on the market are too ‘ Simple and rude ’ Some advertising words give people the feeling that street vendors are shouting ‘ Big sale ’ People just want to run. Product placement is not completely forbidden, but should not arouse the audience’s disgust, and it is best to be compatible with the program ‘ Get on the track ’ 。” Yu Chen said.
The advertising party will win both sides.
The audience called for regulation as soon as possible.
It is worth noting that not only major parties, but also many variety shows and film and television dramas have a large number of advertisements implanted. Then, why do all kinds of parties and variety shows become what the audience calls "advertising conferences" and "sponsor competitions"?
Ms. Zhang, who works in an advertising company in Beijing, told reporters that the placement of advertisements is compulsory to a certain extent. Taking film and television works as an example, all kinds of advertisements inserted by sponsors will appear together with film and television works, and viewers cannot directly skip and watch them without advertisements. It is for this reason that many businesses are willing to promote their products in the form of product placement, and evening parties, popular variety shows and TV dramas have become the most preferred.
Ms. Zhang said that if advertisers want to implant advertisements in audio-visual programs, they must pay the corresponding advertising fees to the photographers, which can greatly alleviate the cost pressure in the production stage. "Every broadcast after the release of film and television works means the exposure of advertising brands in front of the audience."
According to insiders in the industry, the cost of a New Year’s Eve party, the cost of inviting stars, and the remaining venue fees, publicity fees, lighting and other expenses are also very high. In the era of "traffic is king", the traffic brought by popular star artists to the party deserves a lot of capital investment, which leads to the situation that major producers "rob people". In order to ensure that famous artists are invited, producers have to raise the salaries of artists, and advertising sponsorship has become the most convenient and efficient channel to "fill the hole". The organizers of the party should attract as much investment and sponsorship as possible to ensure other expenses. Sponsors invest a lot of money, which will inevitably require as many advertisements as possible to enhance their exposure.
The "win-win" situation between the advertiser and the party has made the audience a "victim". The lengthy brand introduction and ubiquitous product placement have made many viewers call on the relevant departments to regulate the proliferation of product placement.
Zheng Ning, director of the Law Department of the School of Cultural Industry Management of China Communication University, believes that the cultural industry should achieve the unity of social benefits and economic benefits, and put social benefits in the first place. The cost of TV evening is high, which requires a lot of funds. Advertising sponsorship is the main source of funds, so it is reasonable to insert advertisements appropriately. However, if there are too many advertisements or unreasonable links, the audience experience will be seriously affected and the word-of-mouth will decline, which will reduce social benefits and ultimately affect long-term economic benefits.
Optimize the form of advertising content
Improve the law to respond to concerns
Judging from the legal provisions, is there a "cure" for the excessive product placement?
Yue Qiang, a senior partner of Beijing Hairun Tianrui Law Firm, said that at present, China’s laws do not prohibit or limit the number of advertisements published by TV stations. The advertising law and other relevant laws and regulations mainly focus on the content of advertisements, but do not explicitly limit the number, time and frequency of product placement.
"Any advertisement needs to comply with the provisions of the Advertising Law. If it is suspected of false propaganda and infringes on consumers’ right to know and choose, it needs to bear corresponding legal responsibilities. Therefore, TV stations should do a good job in advertising compliance when deciding to broadcast advertisements. " Zheng Ning said that TV advertising is one of the main advertising channels and an important way for TV stations to generate income. Promoting the healthy development of TV advertising can not only ensure the audience to watch programs smoothly, but also help to purify the market atmosphere and guide the benign development of the market. How to purify and improve the atmosphere has become an urgent problem to be solved.
To this end, Zheng Ning suggested that advertising is the economic lifeline of the development of the TV industry, and moderate advertising should be allowed, but broadcasters should be legal and compliant, constantly optimize the content and form of advertising, enhance the audience experience, and seek new profit models at the same time. The competent authorities should also supervise the legal compliance of advertising.
Yue Qiang believes that the current proliferation of product placement has become an important issue that the audience has strongly reflected and needs to be paid attention to. In the advertising law and other relevant laws and regulations, it should be stipulated in what way and in what proportion TV stations and film and television media groups should publish advertisements as advertisement publishers, so as to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of viewers. At the same time, optimize the content and form of advertisements and enrich the content of programs. "Only high-quality TV advertisements can make the audience like and remember, and it is not easy to produce resistance."
"The quality of TV advertisements put in by many businesses in China is low, which leads to the audience’s resistance. To this end, advertisers should seriously think about it, constantly communicate with advertising companies, and comprehensively consider the characteristics of products, the connotation of brands, the general situation of the market, and the form of broadcasting, so as to produce high-quality TV advertisements. " Yue Qiang said.
□ Our reporter Han Dandong
□ Intern of this newspaper Wang Yitian
