Writers Guilds Decry Product Placement

via Adrag: "Today the Writers Guild of America, West and East, with support from SAG, will hold a news conference calling for a code of conduct for stealth advertising -- product placement and the weaving of products into story lines as key plotlines. The groups say that "the integration deceives audiences and forces writers and actors to do jobs they were not hired for."  They are also expected to release a paper today stating: "We are being told to write the lines that sell this merchandise, and to deftly disguise the sale as story. Our writers are being told to perform the function of ad copywriter, but to disguise this as storytelling." BFD? Consumers expect movie product placement as much as they do in editorials. The story continues: "The sharp increase of product placement in film and television too often takes place without any compensation to the very performers that are expected to push those products and more often is done without any consultation with those performers," said Alan Rosenberg, president of the actors guild. Oh, there's the BFD. They want more money.