Shameless plugs? Desperate to get their products in front of you, companies are sneaking ads into TV shows, music videos, and now even celebrity Tweets.

• Author: Potenaza, Alessandra
• Position: MEDIA

When Justin Bieber appeared in ads for Adidas last year, there was little doubt he was paid to wear the brand's "slim-fit" jeans and black leather sneakers.

But what about when Bieber tweeted to his 40 million followers last Mother's Day that he was buying his mom flowers at 1-800-Flowers?

"Everyone knows I love #MyMom! @1800flowers Mother's Day is on Sunday! Love your momma! ..." read the tweet, which ended with a link to the 1-800-Flowers website. The tweet didn't disclose that Bieber is a paid endorser of 1-800-Flowers and that he was asked to participate in its #MyMom campaign for Mother's Day. In fact, posts from celebrities that mention products often aren't as spontaneous as they appear. Advertisers now pay celebrities thousands of dollars to share sponsored messages on social media--without specifying that these posts are ads.

This new type of celebrity endorsement--and its lack of clarity--is drawing the attention of federal officials, who have been trying to regulate product placement in TV shows, movies, and in other media for decades.

"It is an area we are concerned about," says Richard Cleland, assistant director of the Division of Advertising Practices at the Federal Trade Commission. "People approach information differently if they think it's advertising."

The current wave of product placement, which includes social media and music videos, is rooted in a practice dating back to the early days of radio and TV: Food, car, and electronics companies offered, and often paid, to have their products included as props in shows, hoping consumers would associate their brands with the glamour of celebrity.

In the 1950s, soap, tobacco, and oil companies even wedged themselves into the names of the shows they produced--like the Colgate Comedy Hour and Texaco Star Theater. But rising production costs and the quiz-show scandals of the late 1950s (in which sponsors played a part in rigging the games) pushed advertisers out of the business of producing shows themselves. Marketers then began focusing on the ads that run between shows,

Product placement made a comeback on TV about a decade ago, when Survivor sold $4 million sponsorships to advertisers like Reebok, Ericsson, and Dr. Scholl's to insert their products into the show. Other shows soon followed.

On American Idol, judges sipped from Coca-Cola cups as they critiqued singing contestants every week. Soon, brands began to be incorporated into shows' storylines. Modern Family, for example...