The call comes from the East and West Coast branches of the Writers Guild of America, which published papers outlining their objections and called for the introduction of a code of conduct that would draw a distinction between entertainment and advertising.
The organisation said that product placement was also a way of forcing its writers to do work for which they were neither hired for nor paid to do.
"We know firsthand how the story gets short-changed every time a reality show gets taken over by an advertiser," a Writers Guild spokesman said. "We're the ones forced to put in long hours just to figure out how we're going to embed that can of soda into the storyline eight more times before the final episode."
Product placement is believed by many to have its roots in Ian Fleming's James Bond novels. They were rife with namedropping for brands such as Don Perignon, Bentley and Beretta.
Appropriately, the more James Bond films that get released, the more products become associated with them.
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