TVSquad

I was honestly surprised by the number of responses we got to the call for nominees for The Brought to You by TV Squad Awards. It turns out that a LOT of people are as irritated by blatant product placement as I am. Hurray! Is this the wave of the future? And if it is, can we get advertisers to eliminate commercials? Because if I have to endure ads tucked within my shows, then I don't want even to have to speed past them with my TiVo. Let's have one or the other, shall we? Because I'd hate to start boycotting Krispy Kreme and Stride gum just because I've been bombarded.

As it turns out, there were four stand-out nominees; I will tell you who they are after the jump, and then you will have a chance to vote for the Reader's Choice winner (which, in this case, is actually an obnoxious loser). But I did want to mention two runners up: 30 Rock gets an honorable mention for its mention of Verizon, but it doesn't quite make the cut because of the humorous way it handles the mention, and the show's ability to poke fun at itself. The other honorable mention goes to Ugly Betty for its hour-long ad for Wicked, but it still didn't quite make the cut.

So, the nominees for the most obnoxious abuse of product placement within their episodes are ...

I don't know if the promotional blitz that is being prepared for the new NBC series Heroes proves that the network has the utmost confidence in the show or if it is trying to shore up support because it stinks on ice. Either way, it will allow curious viewers to download the show long before it appears on television.

Beginning on September 1st, 24 days before the show's premiere, users of iTunes will be able to download the first episode of the Heroes, a drama about a group of people who realize they have superhuman powers. Users will also be able to download behind-the-scenes extras of the show. When Heroes actually airs it will be sponsored by Nissan and feature limited commercials.

Kim Cattrall is going to play her Samantha character from Sex and the City until she dies, isn't she?

Nissan has pulled a new advertisement starring Kim Cattrall from New Zealand television, following complaints about its content. In the ad, Cattrall makes all sorts of sexually suggestive comments about the new Nissan Tiida, saying thinks like "It's so big!" and "That great body and the way you moved it." While the New Zealand censors approved of the ad, the public did not.