A new report from the Council on Foreign Relations suggests that better U.S.

Product placements on television shows are booming, with this year's market expected to total $4.2 billion. "Advertisers pay as much as $2 million an episode to get their products featured on NBC's 'The Apprentice,'" reports the Los Angeles Times. At the TV industry's annual sales drive, actor Amanda Bynes of WB's "What I Like About You" said of her show's characters, "This season we found out, like, they eat Pringles and use Herbal Essence shampoo.

In a column for Digital Producer magazine, Steven Klapow recounts that a producer of video news releases for an oil company was under strict instructions to avoid including images, including on B-roll footage, that may not look good for the sponsoring company. "We have to avoid any shots that can be taken out of context," the producer said.