Burnett: Survivor Is Life

Mark Burnett has no qualms about the prominent product placement that proliferates his reality TV show ?"Survivor.?"

?"`Survivor' is as much a marketing vehicle as it is a television show,?" the 41-year-old producer said in an interview for the July issue of Esquire magazine. ?"My shows create an interest and people will look at them, but the endgame here is selling products in stores — a car, deodorant, running shoes. It's the future of television.?"

During the show's second season, ?"Survivor: The Australian Outback,?" players competed for rewards such as a Pontiac Aztek, Doritos chips, Bud Light beers and an online shopping spree courtesy of Visa.

But Burnett also said Survivor?" is based on real life.

?"We've all met people like this,?" he said. ?"We've all experienced workplace politics. We've all dealt with these situations — people befriending you, people stabbing you in the back. It's duplicity and hardball. It's serious emotions. We can identify.?"


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