Product Placement as a Form of Advertising Integration: Problems and Features of the Regulation by Examining Russian and Foreign Experience

The popularity of product placement is growing in Russia from year to year due to its advantages over other advertisement formats. Consumers are less likely to respond to blatant advertising, moreover “banner blindness” is developing. That is the reason why advertisers try to integrate their hidden advertising in various formats. However, product placement is not regulated in Russia in terms of the law. There is a large number of legal disputes related to this, but the law itself does not give us a definite answer. This paper analyses Russian and foreign practices of legal regulation of product placement with a view to highlighting major problems and features both from advertisers and The Federal Antimonopoly Service. Also, this paper examines the cases of regulation of product placement in Russia, analyzes the advertising legislation of European countries, America and Asia. A series of interviews were conducted with representatives of advertising producers and advertisers. Furthermore, a consumer survey was conducted in order to reveal their attitude to the product placement. The main objective of this paper is to formulate recommendations based on the results of the study regarding the regulation of product placement for both advertisers and advertising producers.