Last night on the NBC Nightly News (7/9/13), anchor Brian Williams broke some important news:
There is consumer product news tonight. The folks at Hamburger Helper say they’d like to be thought of more as just Helper, since more and more people are eating chicken, and there’s a Helper for that, too. General Mills say they just want to help dinner in America. They say a million homes at night serve some sort of Helper.
And what else was in the press release?
In case you thought this was a weird blurring of news and advertising, a few hours later NBC’s Today show (7/10/13)–ostensibly part of the network’s news division–did a segment on a new cleaning product. The big news was that the Dyson company is coming out with a new device to clean hardwood floors.
Company founder James Dyson–who comes up with “all kinds of cool products,” as anchor Matt Lauer put it–was on hand to explain the details about his new product. Co-anchor Savannah Guthrie chimed in to say she was was sure it would be “another one of those things where we think, ‘Yes, why did we wait so long for this invention!”’
The, umm, “report”–which, save for the lack of a toll-free number to place an order, looked more like a paid infomercial rather than a news segment–closed with Lauer telling viewers this:
We don’t do this as a commercial. We do this because there is a cool factor attached to your products. And when other people develop cool products too, we’ll bring those on as well.
So the lesson is that buying ads is for suckers. The hip, “cool” products–like vacuum cleaners and Hamburger Helper–are the news.
Padremellyrn
Oh no, I think it wasn’t even about the product. Dyson could be selling road apples in a burlap sack, and they would gush “How did we did ever live with out this invention of yours”. There is sheeple out there that would pay for this ‘news’ because they don’t have to address the real world, this is their world “What has american manufactures invented for me now?” This is just becoming the logical, digital version of ‘Better living through Chemistry – by 3M’ Buy only the ads you want, to see what kind of savings you can get.
In the end Robert Heinlein was Right in Storm Ship Trooper _TANSTAAFL
Doug Latimer
I suppose we can call them “newsvertisements”
Although I can think of any number of other things to call them.
John Q
FAIR has identified an aspect of the decline of American journalism that I have not seen addressed anywhere else: an alarming increase in the content of our news media that has been not only suggested but drafted by public relations sources.
New York Times book reviews, for example, have generally devolved into reiterations of publishing house press releases with a negative comment added here or there. What once was called “The News of the Week in Review,” is now “The Weekly Review,” with little more than fatuous articles by academic publish-or-perish types on how the human mind works.
NYT reviews of TV programs also read as if they were slightly edited press releases.
Except for FAIR, no one seems to mind, and if you’re reading this, I hope your FAIR subscription is up to date.
Dana Franchitto
Unfortunately ,it’s nothing new NPR does it all the time. Morning edition has shamelessly promoted cocacola, the auto industry , Dial soap, Starbucks et al. yet they always claim to be “commercial free’ at every fundraiser.
atthewall
TV is just one giant infomercial.
Mandy Murphy
The Minneapolis Star Trib had a big article about this important development. After all, it’s our own Minneapolis-based company. It’s hard to pick up a newspaper and not see articles (or maybe just the symbol or photographs) of Target. Must be invested in it, or something to shill so blatantly.
nickie
I’ve been seeing this for years. I’m most pissed off at NPR for shilling. On one of the local affiliates every 10 minutes is a commercial for the donor, then there is MarketPlace, MarketPlace Business Report, MarketPlace Tech, Marketplace money, adnaseum and that is just on Morning Edition beginning at 5:30. MarketPlace just has a jolly good time everyday selling some COOL gadget or movie, but NOT informing us about the shenanigangs, their sponsors. Thank you Fair and other outlets like this.
Scott
I have less of a problem with the Today Show shilling than the nightly news. Morning shows have always had products that we “can’t live without” on them. There are sections for news and sections for crap.
But, the Helper story bothers me to no end. This is part of the fall of journalism. This is and the Sunday morning shows where the same old men get to spout their crap without any pushback from the Press (as in, Meet the). Newsmen and women are becoming less and less the journalist and more and more the pretty face on the bs talking points.
Clyde Slade
Legal television prostitution.
Clarence Hagmeier
Dana:
“This hard hitting report on the GMO controversy brought to you by..Archer Daniels Midland, Supermarket For The World.”
“This hard hitting report on fracking brought to you by the Natural Gas Industry Coalition.”
musea
Count the number of drug ads on the nightly news. That’s the bulk of all advertising.
Duncan Bray
…. more and more … and more … like sci-fi I was reading 50 years ago … literally ! … society decendin into stupider stupider stupider , step by step
Kcar
By saying the segments blur news and advertising, and that they look like infomercials, the article leads us to suppose that the TV folk passed off as news paid advertising that had a news look to it; or that they took money for featuring the products in news stories, like “product placement” in the movies. But no evidence of financial gain.
gloriana casey
Hamburger Helper comes in a box. Anything that comes in a box has a shelf life…..and sometimes a very long life, like Twinkies. Why did those come back, or are they the same ones from the 1950s that didn’t sell?
Chickens are crowded together so closely that what starts in one chicken soon goes to all the chickens. If factory farms used 80% of the antibiotics, do doctors now say, take 20% of these antibiotics and eat 1 chicken and call me in the morning?
Find out what’s in the food, NBC, because that’s the news that’s fit to print.
Mark Studd
Its like a slippery slope that started with allow promotions and tie ins from the entertainment divisions. NPR, BBC, and almost all of the public broadcasters are involved. BBC Radio One is one of the worst, when they are no longer supporting their pedophile broadcasters. Watching NPR and BBC is now like watching the trash at Russia Today its all the same.
michael e
How many times have you tracked this happening on this show?I have not noticed this new turn in events as it were.Though I will watch with a different eye.
Rachael
The fast food business is a fast growing and very challenging means of entering the market.
We need to not listen to our doctor who will be very helpful and
write a prescription for almost anything to help you live with your diabetes.
13) Chain Giants like Domino’s and Papa Johns spend 90 percent of their advertising budget for TV commercials.
natural gas grill
The venture is the center of your gas function of your grill.
Since generators come in many sizes and types they are very functional machines.
Infrared grills are used mostly in restaurants because the high temperature allows chefs to grill meats to perfection within
minutes.
soapoperadigest.com
It’s nearly impossible to find experienced people about this subject, however, you sound like you know what you’re talking
about! Thanks