Messages with a Mission, Embedded in TV Shows

The New York Times reports how the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is expanding its efforts as "a behind-the-scenes influencer of public attitudes...helping to shape story lines and insert messages into popular entertainment..." The Foundation, according to the Times, has helped put messages about H.I.V. prevention, surgical safety and the spread of infectious diseases into such shows as “ER,” “Law & Order: SVU” and “Private Practice.”

Now the Gates Foundation is set to expand its involvement and spend more money on influencing popular culture through a deal with Viacom, the parent company of MTV and its sister networks VH1, Nickelodeon and BET. It could be called “message placement”: the social or philanthropic corollary to product placement deals in which marketers pay to feature products in shows and movies. Instead of selling Coca-Cola or G.M. cars, they promote education and healthy living.

Read the full article here.