Marketers, of course, have competitive reasons for wanting to keep their maneuvers quiet. But perhaps there's a greater fear among both the advertisers and the networks: Too much publicity cluing viewers in could turn them off--not to mention politicians, activists and others who have issues with the practice.

That's why it was so striking last week to hear Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman speak so openly about how aggressive the company has been and will be in making brand integration deals. He even highlighted a few of them.

"We are deepening and accelerating our focus on the integrated marketing area," he told Wall Street analysts, seeking to reassure them that Viacom can withstand revenue issues due to Madison Avenue adopting commercial ratings as currency.

He added that "the nature of our programming really lends itself to (successful integrations)." Indeed, the many Viacom reality series offer a canvas for marketers to insert their products.

One of the positive examples Dauman cited in his prepared remarks is Toyota and McDonald's linking with BET Networks to weave their brands into the "College Hill: Interns" reality series.

The series, part of BET's efforts to expand its original programming, chronicles a group of students as they live and intern in Chicago during the summer.

Toyota made one of its appearances on the Oct. 23 episode (one of the top product placements of the week, according to measurement firm iTVX).

The interns get word they will be able to use a Yaris to travel around the Windy City and are ecstatic. After they first view the three cars, the scene then turns into sort of a fashion shoot for the cars with shots of the front grille, headlights, sides, back, hood--even an aerial view follows.

The episode also featured two "brought to you" messages by billboards during breaks for the Yaris.

So was the integration worth Dauman's praise? Perhaps it's best to defer to Toyota. The marketer is one of the savviest at finding new ways to cut through clutter, and its linking with the show is a statement in itself.

A statement far less surprising than Dauman's comment last week.