More Products in Programming

Ambitious efforts to embed advertising in television programs are accelerating as advertisers expand plans to produce so-called branded entertainment. Now, scripted programs like mini-series and soap operas are joining the unscripted reality and game shows where the trend began.

The movement toward branded entertainment is strengthening because major marketers are seeking alternatives to traditional advertising, particularly 30-second television commercials, as viewers grow increasingly able to skip, zip, zap and otherwise tune out prosaic peddling.

"In-program opportunities start to break through all the clutter in the marketplace, so we are pushing to find more and more as part of our desire to intersect more and more with our consumers' daily lives," said Peter Sterling, vice president for United States marketing at the McDonald's Corporation in Oakbrook, Ill.

Read the article: www.nytimes.com