A product placement idea

The increasingly wired Chinese populace eagerly awaits the arrival of "Prison Break" every week, downloading it more than any other American television program available online. Such downloads are illegal within China, violating restrictions on broadcast ownership, online video provision, and copyright law. Individual infringement, however, is not prosecuted because the so-called guilty line in China is so low--a person has to earn 30,000 RMB in "illegal gains" from copyright infringement to get any jail time. This situation is, in part, why the United States has gotten mad at China for not prosecuting offenders.

Today we thought of a win-win solution. Imagine what would happen if the State Department funded a "Prison Break" plot line that involved certain events of concern to the United States government. (Rummy tried it, why not Condi?) As such, Fox Television could stem the revenue loss resulting from widespread infringement in China, and the U.S. could benefit from a little persuasion overseas. It wouldn't have to be hit-over-the-head obvious, but could in fact be a bit more subtle. I call the concept "soft power product placement."