Academy to allow film ads on Oscars

October 08, 2008 For the first time since the Oscars moved to TV in the early 1950s, studios will be able to advertise movies during the telecast of the 81st Annual Academy Awards. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences had long banned movie advertising out of concern that it might look as if studios were influencing the outcome of the awards, but the board of governors voted Tuesday night, after listening to the recommendations of a committee charged with studying the issue, to open up the show to movie ads -- albeit with plenty of restrictions. "With the criteria that the committee recommended in place, it offers us a further way to celebrate the movies, which is what the show is all about," Academy spokeswoman Leslie Unger said.

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