iPad featured on ABC TV Show (Modern Family)

I was expecting some product placement à la "24" (or many others, "24" just came to mind first) where the products are used like they were designed to be used, but it just happens to be this or that brand. The focus is not really on the product. Kind of subliminal in a way.

But this looked more like a commercial than anything else. I don't mind when Apple pays production companies to have someone use a MacBook rather than a Dell, I do when they make sure the characters praise the product.

I think you're reading too much into it. Certainly Apple may have offered ABC some amount of money for the product placement but the important question is has this specific example taken away from the entertainment factor of the show? If you follow 'Modern Family' this is certainly is consistent with the portrayal of a father. Would it have made you happier if instead he was obsessing over an unfamiliar technology product that you've never heard of? Would you have been able to relate to it as much?

So I say, "who cares," as long as product placement is not impacting me from being entertained and/or compromising the artistic merit of the show.