It's not technically "free" advertising, but you've figured out the model.

Companies donate the prizes to the show in exchange for the exposure they get. It costs Ford a car, for example, to be featured on an episode that's seen by millions -- not a bad deal.

If you've ever noticed that the descriptions of the big prizes sound an awful lot like advertising copy, that's because they are.

A Canadian Broadcasting Corporation documentary series called "Under the Influence," which takes a close look at the ad industry, did a whole episode on game shows as advertising. It pointed out that, despite being an "unscripted" game show, every episode of "The Price Is Right" does in fact have a script that's about 30 pages long, almost entirely made up of glowing product descriptions.

All these donated prizes have created a unique sort of problem for the show. According to "Price Is Right" staffer Stan Blits in his tell-all book, "Come On Down," the show has acres of warehouse space to store all the donations before they're given away on air.

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