With labor strife already hanging over Hollywood, the ad industry is preparing to bargain with actors over pay for appearing in commercials.
Advertisers and agencies will kick off contract talks with the two actors unions, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, today in Manhattan.
The Association of National Advertisers and the American Association of Advertising Agencies have a joint committee that negotiates on their behalf.
The two sides will be bargaining against the backdrop of a bitter labor dispute between SAG and the major Hollywood studios, which are at an impasse after the union rejected a “final offer” from the studios over the weekend.
The commercial contract has not garnered anywhere near the attention as the drama in Hollywood, although the ad industry employs more actors than either television or film.
At issue is no less than a complete overhaul of how to compensate commercial actors.
A 2006 study produced several alternatives, including one that would pay actors based on ratings, or the number of people an ad reaches, rather than the number of times it airs.
