Mad Men In The Daytime: Is In-Soap Advertising Hurting Everyone?

While your favorite shows were basically called “soap operas” because they were used to detergent to the women watching them, is product placement actually hurting shows today?

Granted, back then, the soap companies like Procter & Gamble owned the soaps and didn’t need to put their products actually on the show… like today’s shows seem to be doing.

General Hospital recently had characters talking about well-known products (and how great they were to use) that were included in the gift bags at the Nurses’ Ball. That stopped the drama cold with its obviousness.

Product placement like that can be worth good money to our flailing shows, especially if they’re looking for ways to up their revenue streams. After all, casts are still pretty large, and salaries don’t pay themselves.

Not only that, but sets are costly, writers are costly, and the entire production staff and crew are, as well. Gone are the salad days when soaps used to be so lucrative that they’d also pay for primetime shows.

Now they are fighting to stay alive, and cost-cutting has forced soaps to lose some pretty incredible talent, both in front of and behind the camera.

How do viewers feel about what they are seeing on their shows, though? Does seeing characters doing blatant ads take away from the drama? Do they like them? Soap Hub asked just that and over 15,000 wanted to have their voices heard on the subject… and that voice was clear.

Hate It
Over 74% wanted to go on the record to say they aren’t liking these obvious in-show advertisements. That’s not why you watch soaps, and you don’t appreciate how it takes you out of seeing them as characters instead of spokesman for some kind of product.

No Problem
For the remaining almost 26%, you realize that with the way things are today, if that’s what it takes to keep your favorite soap on the air… well, you’ll deal with it. You know daytime has lost way too many soaps as it is, so if this will help, you’re all for it.