producers hate Idol product placement ads, but are forced to produce them.

producers hate Idol product placement ads, but are forced to produce them.
Of the Ford ads that run during American Idol 3, one of the show’s executive producers says “I hate the damn things.” Ken Warwick says that in the UK, the system “absolutely forbids any interference within the program by any sponsor, by any advertising, or any product placement whatsoever. It’s just completely forbidden. So in truth, yes, I find a lot of them painful.” So why do they air? And why are they so ridiculous? Simple: “We’ve got no say in the commercials.” According to MTV.com, FOX “requires the producers to include the promotional segments in the Wednesday elimination episodes.” And producers “have no time to do them justice,” nor do they “have a huge budget that a properly produced commercial will have,” Warwick says. Eliminated finalist Leah LaBelle disagrees, saying “[t]he Ford commercial was real cool”; other contestants similarly attach their lips to Ford’s ass.