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NBC to Create Programs Centered on Sponsors
explosivejared writes "It sounds farcical when you first hear it, but NBC has teamed up with an ad agency to produce actual feature programs that are centered around promoting the products of the network's sponsors. The network has already begun production on one sci-fi program entitled 'Gemini Division,' which will act as a platform for products from Microsoft, Intel, and Cisco. The programming will be broadcast via the network's 'digital properties,' e.g. the NBC web site. I guess it was only a matter of time for something like this to come along after product placement became the norm."
The significant point, however, is that the show comes first. By reversing the creative process and using product promotion as a starting point, not only is the quality of content likely to suffer, but the effectiveness of the advertising along with it.
What's worse, it seems these plans will give the brands involved an unprecedented level of influence over the content. From TFA: [It will be] a unique way of giving brands a seat at the table with writers and producers in developing episodic programming that ties directly to brand needs
Amnesty International
Make TV shows from ads?! That's so easy a caveman could do it!
My work here is dung.
Like they say, nothing new under the sun...
Another great reason to continue avoiding network tv.
expandfairuse.org
And after the DVR makes commercial-skipping so much easier. The business model must evolve. Unknown if it will survive. And while I know everyone will say that this will turn most viewers off, the truth is if it's entertaining people will watch.
I love this quote:
The collaborationBSOD jokes aside, I'm trying to figure out how you can communicate helpful technical product information in a science fiction drama show. Is it going to be like the time Jeff Goldblum used Mac OS 9 to take down the alien computer systems? Or is Rosario Dawson going to chase aliens and time travel with a Zune and an MSDN subscription? It's one thing to have a Coke can sitting in plain view, it's another to show how the protagonists succeed using shrinkwrapped software.
So when i pirate this quality content, are they going to try sue me? after all marketing is the entire point of this.
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
A sci-fi show centered around MS?
Too many jokes...too many jokes...
Danger, danger... overload, overload...!!!
Kyle XY and Smallville have clearly sponsored content.
So that means Knight Rider was picked up as a series?
That'll be an easy show to compress and send. Just do a single blue pixel and have it expand to full screen for 30 minutes. Genius I tell ya!
Nissan Versa
This sort of thing shouldn't be a surprise at a time where people expect their entertainment to be free and will jump through hoops to avoid advertisements.
A similar thing is happening in the music industry. Musicians are beginning to sell their albums exclusively to non-music-related businesses (such as general retailers or newspapers). The businesses then either resell the album exclusively at their store or bundle it with another product. Prince, Ray Davies, and the Eagles have all done this. Considering the state of the music industry, expect more to follow.
There used to be a time where this sort of thing would be greeted with outrage by the public, but it looks like the public is content to allow their culture to become even more crass and commoditized if it means that they can continue to download stuff for free.
These adshows are perfect showcases for all the vaporware Microsoft and Intel are always promising, but never delivering.
Cisco doesn't pitch vaporware so much, so I'm a little disappointed they're going to start defining themselves into that category for the mass market.
--
make install -not war
many people will undoubtedly watch them (see 'info'mercials).
Engineering is the art of compromise.
This was the norm on old radio programs.
Jack Benny centered who knows how many of his jokes on Jello. In the Whistler, people were always pulling into Signal gas stations. Sometimes going miles to fine one of those "fine signal gas stations". Fibber McGee & Molly even made the Johnson Wax pitchman the crux of their plots.
With lower costs in producing this kind of stuff it makes perfect sense. Everything old is new again.
They aren't really trying anything new so much as going back to the old ways of advertising. Ever heard the Jack Benny Program (also called "the Lucky Strike Program", "the Chevrolet Show", and other sponsor-reflecting names)? The show would seamlessly include little bits where the entertainers themselves sell you on the benefits of their sponsor's products. And the sponsors were definitely "at the table" affecting content in the shows.
I can't blame the networks. They have to get the money from somewhere.
Because...well, it IS farcical!
I remember seeing several old shows where the product sponsor was woven well into the plot... One in particular where Jell-o took a highlight spot... it's not a new thing, just coming back into favor.
"I guess it was only a matter of time for something like this to come along after product placement became the norm"... Again... look back at some of the earliest tv shows - particularly variety shows and their radio show predecessors. You'd think nothing before 1980 happened the way some people talk....
I know to many people that think everything should be done because it's cool and fun and money shouldn't be an issue - it does cost to produce programming and if they can continue to do FREE broadcasting by product placement then GOOD for them.
KNOWING that the product placement is going on is enough to know what their "bias" is.
re: Microsoft, Intel, and Cisco
So the heroes, they fight these companies then, right? Because with their collective ethical track record, to put them on the side of good would be...
Well, kind of fun actually. Like seeing darth vader sing a jaunty polka.
Obviously a dystopian future if it's based around Microsoft products.
Well, what do we expect from the Nazi Broadcasting Company?
Granted, the networks and advertisers are kind of taking this to a whole new level, but this isn't such a new idea.
Ever listen to old time radio? I often find myself driving home from work in the evening at a time when my local NPR station plays an hour of old radio shows. Instead of cutting from the show to commercials, they often had commercials built in as part of the broadcast of the show. Burns & Allen, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, etc all often had their skits transition directly into an announcement from Maxwell House Coffee, Crisco, Kellogg's Cereal, Kraft Foods, or any one of dozens of other brands. Even outside of the comedy/variety show, sometimes scifi and horror shows would have some 'built-in' commercials, and shows from all kinds of genres.
Just wait, the "Mattel and Mars Bar Quick Energy Chocobot Hour" can not be far off. Check your local listings.
It might actually be an improvement over current Fox shows.
Between that thing they called a debate and this, I'm beginning to feel like I am living on the set of the movie 'Network'.
Narrator: "It's the Mattel and Mars Bar Quick-Energy Chocobot Hour!"
Leader Chocobot: "Gooey, Nutty, Coco, put down those *entertaining* Mattel products. Colonal Ka-Taffy is up to his old tricks again!"
Until the mid-60's or so it was common for a show to have a single sponsor, often with no other products hawked during commercial breaks.
It's not that much better or worse in my opinion. One sponsor means one corporate censor and one product base not to offend. Many sponsors means means censors and worrying about offending just about everybody. Either way, most broadcast TV (and basic cable) will be crap, mostly crappy talent and reality shows. And some gems will filter through, no matter who the sponsor is.
... that I don't think that people will notice. I mean, with the crap that's on today people are used to sub-standard programming. And that's given story centric shows. So, if you're masochistic, try imagining the raging pieces of crap that are product centric.
I remember how disgusted I was with the movie Transformers. Advertising was all over the place. I couldn't suspend disbelief and enjoy the movie as all I could think of was GMC, Mountain Dew, etc.
Bring on the The Mattel and Mars Bar Quick Energy Chocobot Hour! I know that what I really want in TV is amazing advertising and a by-the-numbers plot, not cruddy shows where the writers are unconstrained by advertisers and free to write based on the artistic merit of their ideas.
Now if they'd just replace the news (it's depressing and boooring) with this kind of quality programming, TV may be worth watching again.
Anyone ever hear of that Cavemen sitcom on ABC? The one that was completely based on the Geico car insurance company's "So easy a caveman can do it" ads? It was ALL over the news when they announced that show, so ABC and Geico got a whole shitload of publicity.
Now could we see a show that centers completely on President Bush or far right-wing people on Fox????
Other networks have been doing this for some time. They call them "infomericals".
The original show was created to promote the toys, so...
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Forget the content of the show. I predict it will only be available in Windows Media format.
Bonus prediction: After the current round of iTunes-must-scan-for-piracy noise from NBC, we'll be treated to a round of iTunes/iPods-need-to-support-WM-to-get-our-cool-shows noise from NBC.
kind of trouble we're in, this concept should clear up that confusion right away. Frankly, the mass of US citizens are morons, willing to park themselves in front of the TV to watch shit like this and, with mouths agape, say Thank sir, may I have another. This used to be the stuff of parody. Its now the reality.
Scary.
'Cuz Microsoft definitely won't be around then. Maybe they'll find an ancient, evil artifact: a "Windows Vista Capable" PC.
Geeks like to think that they can ignore politics, you can leave politics alone, but politics won't leave you alone.-rms
A blender show is about the only one of these I'd watch. And only if it lasted under three minutes: Two minutes of "wow this product is awesome!"
followed by frappe.
tv has always been a vehicle for the sponsors - we all know it. i love lucy sucked, tv still sucks today. peace
Maybe they could set a new record for the fastest cancellation of a series ever. CBS just cancelled a "reality" show after one episode, but that, of course, has happened several times.
No, the record they're going for was set by the TV show in Australia ("Australia's funniest home videos of animals having sex", as I recall - seriously), that was canceled at the first commercial break ("We are having technical difficulties, but only until the next show comes on").
I'm hoping for it to be canceled before the opening credits are complete.
B-e--s-u-r-e--t-o--d-r-i-n-k--y-o-u-r--O-v-a-l-t-i[a][r]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Kingdom
You don't even need to go back to the 50's. And it was a GREAT show.
Reminds me of Microsoft's first "Cyber Sitcom" starring Mathew Perry and Jennifer Aniston.
So if you base a show entirely around a product or set of products, wouldn't that eliminate the need for commercials? At this point I would rather watch an entire show with an integrated product then try and watch the 10 minutes of "actual TV" sqeezed between 20 minutes of nonsensical commercials.
This is part of their war on piracy: make things so terrible that no one will want to download them.
When deep space exploration ramps up, it will be corporations that name everything. The IBM Stellar Sphere. The Philip Morris Galaxy. Planet Starbucks. -- Fight Club
Better than some of the shit they have now. Personally a show based entirely around sponsors sounds alright, as long as there is a show sponsored by the Canadian Government, where it would be a bunch of eskimos chilling (pun intended) in our nations capital of toronto, chugging beers and smokin aboot 3 maple syrup flavoUred joints each. yeee
Orbis terrarum est non altus satis
a dildo company sponsor some shows on NBC. This could get good.
--
SciFi Channel's Eureka has Cisco pasted all over their office equipment. No one seems to mind. Product placement can work if it's done right. I watched a very amusing Japanese show, about an ad agency that was tasked with making commercials for the brands that sponsored the show. The commercials that aired during the show featured the show characters. I would love to see this sort of show on American TV, but doubt what NBC is pushing will be that meta.
The problem is, they have to be done REALLY well. Some great examples of advertisements in programming adding to show quality rather than detracting from it can be found in 30 Rock and The Colbert Report.
Examples against it are, well, most everything else.
I've been listening to old radio shows on Sirius satellite when I take long drives, and I have come to look forward to the Johnson Wax spot on the Fibber McGee and Molly show. They usually did a pretty good of working it in more or less naturally; for instance, when getting a spare room ready for a boarder, the sponsor's guy comes for a visit and marvels at how good the floor looks because of its Johnson Wax coat. Part of the fun of it is them not pretending it's not a sponsor's spot. Usually Fibber will make some comment to the audience about cover your ears, once he gets going he doesn't know how to stop, and there's always some good natured ribbing. In fact, I end up looking forward to them. I imagine it was much the same for the listeners back in the day.
If sponsors could do their promos like that old show, it wouldn't be half bad. But most of the others were not nearly so slick.
Infuriate left and right
So...This is how we hear that Ron Popeil has been hired to run NBC? Prime time infomercials. Yummy. This just might work if it's staffed like Baywatch was... Too bad I don't even actually *care* as long as the internets keep working.
Isn't NBC the same network that gave us the wonders of that Geico derived Caveman sitcom?
As much as I enjoy Heroes and the bits of Law & Order (and it's various spinoffs) that I've seen, I can't believe their execs are this stupid.
Insert Sig Here
This sort of thing just doesn't work. Everyone ends up resenting it.
Schwab
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
It's just more shit I won't be watching. Knock yourselves out NBC. Sounds pretty desperate to me! They have been dead for a long time, the corpse just doesn't know it yet.
Will this mean there'll be more shows like Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! where the entire premise of the show is to sell crapola, but the show itself doesn't make any blasted sense, giving way to daft anime tired-as-hell translator humour?
I had originally hoped product placement would replace the ~20 minutes of commercial breaks during an hour of network TV. But after a lengthly debate with a friend, I've come to realize that product placement is like a new tax; however unpalatable it may be, once they get the public to accept it and start seeing the additional money roll in, it's there for good.
"Tonight the world watches in horror as an Earthling is eaten alive on network television. This grim scene of unimaginable carnage is brought to you by Fishy Joe's. Try our new extreme walrus juice. 100% Fresh-Squeezed Walrus. Ride the walrus!"
Finally we get rid of the pesky "content" around the commercials.
Going to the bathroom will never be a matter of timing any more and we can drink as much beer as we want. Finally.
thegodmovie.com - watch it
Wait, are you implying there are shows that *aren't* centered around promoting the products of the network's sponsors? Where might I find these rare gems?
#$%@#%@ says what?
See what you started! If you had actually spent the time creating a movie that was centered around character development rather than clever product placement, last summer would have been much more fun, and this travesty wouldn't be on our doorstep. I hope you're happy, 'cause Microsoft, Cisco, and Intel sure are.
This may actually be a good thing...
it may be the first time we see even semi-accurate depictions of technology in television drama in the USA!
Those using pirated Tinysoft signatures(TM) are a real threat to society and should all be thrown in jail.
"The Lone Gunmen" could be revived as a movie this way if they could talk to [place geeked-loved companies here]. IMDB: movie name: Lone Gunmen The Movie sponsors: Coca Cola, Pepsi, Tide, Kraft, Monsanto, Proctor & Gamble, The Carlyle Group, Jilin Jaer Seed Company, Nestle, McDonald's, KFC, Tim Horton's, Au Tarot and Schwartz's. actors:... ...
Summary: All this ad placement is so exciting that I don't want to give away the story or how it ends.
Rating: 20 stars out of 10 stars
It sounds like Fahrenheit 451 with a dash of The Network thrown in. If you, or anyone else, remembers the title of the story, I would like to try and track it down. Please leave the title or author as a reply. Thanks.
I noticed that several movies I went to that there are so many "products placements" on them they begin to look like product demos.
Obviously no one has a significant other that watches the Soaps. Soap Opera is one of the first radio programming that was sponsored by soap manufacturers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_opera
If the experiment fails and the shows suck, then you have more evidence for the notion that sponsor control corrupts the medium. If it succeeds, it will do so by being genuinely entertaining - and we've essentially created a new medium for creative expression. I think that'd be a good way for big corps to spend more cash subsidizing the arts, even if only indirectly by giving more artists a day job that will give them the funds and experience to support and improve their real work.
So where's the downside? A generation of people who are emotionally invested in brands? We've already got that with the Apple crowd or the Coke vs. Pepsi debate. If this is dislike of legitimizing a long-form commercial, well, people claim to watch the Superbowl "just for the commercials". If it's entertaining, it's serving the same purpose as regular TV and popular commercials.
And it's not like you're being forced to watch these shows. The worst that can happen is that the sponsored shows don't really catch on, so they try it again by adding it to and ruining already popular shows. But then you people get angry and things go back to normal. Or, better, if it turns people off to TV, maybe they'll find something productive to do.
that's going to work, sure it will. What a bunch of dumbasses.
Before long soap companies are going to start hosting the modern day equivalent of operas for the housewives of America to watch.
The problem you should have is the waste of spectrum on broadcast. Real change must come sooner or later.
Commercials as programs will be the only way to advert sponsor fund programs when NBC and friends are just another site on the internet (as they should be) and copyright law has been reformed for digital freedom. Will anyone watch? I doubt it. Every highschool and college in the world makes plays - these will be transformed into regular programming and distributed for free over the liberated spectrum.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
This goes beyond shark-jumping. I suggest a new meme: cock-scarfing. "NBC has totally scarfed the cock on this one."
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
One thought comes to mind when I read this "It's W-W-W-W-WIndows-Ww-w-Windows-Windows/386!"
This is how TV operated in the golden era 1948-60.
You know, they're called "Soap Operas" for a reason. It's because the early dramas were funded primarily by detergent manufacturers in some of the earliest - and most effective - product placement programs.
This is a very, very old idea that seems to make the rounds every so often. No doubt, this will get tiresome after a couple decades, and the next generation will have this "radical" new idea to encapsulate the advertisements in separate spots rather than integrating them into the programs, and everyone will scoff at what a ludicrous suggestion that is. I mean, won't people just turn off the radio? Er, TV? Er, webpage?
That green slime had it coming.
... the network made the placement / sponsorship unobtrusive and made the programs available in a non-DRM-ed format for download with no commercial interruptions. I completely understand shows cost money,and I am willing to play ball. If I can download, say, Battlestar Galactica or Law and Order to use as I see fit, but there are branded placements in the episodes and there are no dialog kludges ("Gee, lieutenant, have a Coke!") I would not only watch, such a move would make me less vehemently negative about advertising. Right now, I actually avoid buying items I am aware of advertising for, unless I go looking for them. Studies show advertising works, even if we think it doesn't, but I can tell you this - if you make a conscious decision to avoid advertisers' products, it is possible. No coke in my house, nor Anheiser-Busch, and I've been buying Volkswagens since before they even advertised on television in the US (my first VW was a '76 Rabbit). Why? Because I don't believe in rewarding annoying or anti-social behavior, which most advertising is, IMHO.
I can understand how shows like Night Court (in which Harry Anderson, playing Judge Harry Stone, always had a Macintosh in his office) could feature a product without having it get in the way of a show. And certainly there are car companies that have had cars featured on shows or in movies, such as James Bond. But those were never central to the plot, so they didn't manage to drag things down like the proposed sponsor-centric content promises to. Even the show-within-a-show of The Truman Show didn't seem to have the nasty property they're talking about, since the plot focused on the character... the ads were just incidental ways to add revenue, kind of like hyperlinked ads in and around web articles or the hypertext-captioning of the Interstellar News Network on Babylon 5.
Your putting it this way made me realize--it's not just the creation but the ongoing generation of new episodes, not to please a fan-base but to exploit a fan-base. Moreover, as the product evolves, the show has to evolve to match... not just as the starting point of the series but for each episode. This means they can't take it where the show wants to go, they have to take it where the product wants to go, and that's going to reach a divergence. It also means that if the product is upgraded or sold or someone wants a "fresh angle", the show is going to be canceled on a dime without any regard for what the public wants. Because shows are about "what viewers want" and ads are about "what we want viewers to want".
This divergence of purpose bodes ill.
I used to write regular parodies of The Young and the Restless (out of irritation for where the writers were taking the show). In the process, I found that writing for characters that viewers understand is something where you can't "lie" in the writing. If you do, you lose the viewers. I'd start to write something trying to make it go a certain way and the voice of the characters would tell me "No, you have to go another direction. That direction is not true to my character." And it worked best to just roll with it and see where the characters would naturally take me. I came to a belief that what makes good writing is when the characters are alive like that in your mind, and the characters are writing a "true" story--not in the sense of non-fiction, but in the sense of following how life would really go. Sort of like method acting but for writing... (Ah, I see. There are no new ideas in the world. Google tells me that the term method writing I just made up is an already elaborated theory. But yes, like that. Count me an instant believer that there is merit in this line of thinking.) Anyway, my point is that the kind of cynical "we can make it go where it needs to go" writing is quite suspect...
Kent M Pitman
Philosopher, Technologist, Writer
(Have young kids, can't help but watch sometimes) Disney Channel - few, if any, traditional ads, but the whole bloody channel is an ad for itself and its Disney products - Hanna Montana, Kim Possible, High School Musical out the WAZOO. I can't think of a single commercial for something that is not a reciprocal ad for something on the channel itself. While it seems like show A sponsors show B sponsors show A (how could either make money if that were all), what ends up happening is each show's brand is built - and then they make a bazillion dollars on clothing, toys, posters, and concert tickets. While I'm not that impressed with the production value much of the time, the marketing approach's success is hard to deny.
Why, oh why, didn't I take the Blue Pill?
Check local listings
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Except that 'Allow' will be greyed out.
They will try it, and it won't work at all, and they will wonder why, and it will probably be because they continued to show normal commercials in addition to the product placements. I could live with one or other, but not both.
radio is getting into this act as well. our classic rock station has sold themselves to ATT, and now a jock's story about meeting someone famous goes into, "and I took pictures of them you can see on our website. I used my ATT camera phone, and I gotta tell you, this is an awesome phone with awesome service. you should check them out."
It's time for the Texaco Star theater! With Milton Berle!
Who need quality content when you can have content the AD agency wants....
I can explain almost everything for you.
Dilithium crystals are a form of the window out of anti-matter containment chamber. They were first used as an exit window for more primitive vacuum magnetic bottles, where the lattice distance was used to refract anti-protons of the correct inertial energy to the reaction chamber. Eventually, it was realized that a hexagonal close packed arrangement at the correct temperature could not only guide but store anti-protons when subjected to a properly constructed optical pump field. This greatly simplified anti-matter storage and was considerably safer than the massive bottle designs of the late 21st century. The crystals are consumed in both cases because nothing is perfect but a good set of crystals can serve for decades before needing replacement.
Heisenberg compensators work by quantum entanglements correction. Events that could lead to local instability are intentionally entangled and shifted to random locations in the universe. A more interesting version of this is to capture potential differences across parallel universes and harness it for useful work. This provided a limitless supply of energy in the 23rd century that replaced almost all others and started a process of cooling our current universe, though the overall heat balance between the infinite possible universes has yet to be discovered and there was a furious ethical debate over dumping random energy to other universes before it was realized that others must be doing the same to us and this is why the universe is actually self organizing.
Transporter malfunctions in the early 23rd century, interestingly, led the way to that energy source by proving the existence of parallel worlds and pointing to the mechanisms of quantum entanglement between them. The people you saw there were not really "split" so much as they were shifted and rotated.
I made all of that up in the last 5 minutes, but I can't imagine Vista being useful or interesting. What are they going to do, upload their "live" photos to solve crimes between lock ups? Will a BSD infusion bring stability to the madness? Stay tuned ... only the most creative of geniuses will make that pig fly.
I am a name troll of Westlake. Visit my homepage to learn why.
This has been going on for years, from soap operas to your favorite cartoons. If you saw The Biggest Loser with its prominent product placement, you already know NBC is leading the way in advertainment.
Don't we already have this at 2am on most channels? At least this sounds very similar.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Well, I got halfway down the page of comments, then finally got sick of looking and searched for the word.
No-one has mentioned that NBC has tried this type of thing before.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viper_(TV_series)
And I see one hit for the most recent advertainment:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Rider_(2008_film)
That's the ULTIMATE product placement show... the "game" is guessing the suggested retail price (how cute) of graciously supplied products for constants to win. How long has that been on the air?
Wired: Commertainment!
...Lorenzo / I'm into kinky crustaceans. I just discovered internet praWn.
It's not like the networks are doing a very good job of getting much of anything decent on the air as it is. And yet there are no ramifications. They just put out the same crap again, with more layers of ads on top to try to make up for how poorly they did before, which only serves to reduce the audience further. So perhaps a show that is tied to the fate of a company that really will feel it if it is horrible will actually be better. Maybe they will stick it out through initial low ratings to try to build an audience to avoid the embarrassment of canceling their show. Maybe it's just late and I am not thinking straight. Lately it seems like the advertisers are doing a better job promoting new music than the music industry itself, so maybe they'll do better with tv as well.
Ha! Ahaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Oh wait, you're serious?
You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
...the products on the show are used and function exactly as they do in real life, including inexperienced & incompetent operators and commonly known failure modes, thus exploiting each product's creative potential for comedy and pathos.
I'd absolutely watch a show that featured an honestly portrayed InFocus or Sony video projector bulb going out right in the middle of the critical presentation, followed with a panic call to the projector vendor and a bleeped/pixelated expletive when the price of the replacement bulb is revealed. Or the honest aftermath of a group lunch at Taco Bell or the Olive Garden.
More importantly, if Slashdot decides to follow NBC, I urge them to go public and confirm that Cowboy Neal and Jack Handey are the same person.
I really don't mind advertisements built into television shows . . . provided that it doesn't degrade the quality of the entertainment. Overdone, this sort of thing gets really, really cheesy quickly. But done right, it can actually be a positive thing that will both add some sense of reality to the show while at the same time bringing in more dollars. Plus, with built-in advertisements, it goes hand-in-hand with the bittorrent model of distributing television shows -- since most of them are stripped of all advertisements anyway, the product placement ads can't be stripped and they don't lose money, so they can't complain about "piracy".
Hasn't this already been done before? I believe these types of shows are called "infomercials".
I work on commercials all the time and most of that time is spent watching the client argue with the agency, who argues with director who argues with everyone else, about every ridiculous detail. Either they will fail to ever get a script together or they will make a show that is so incoherent it will look like a clips show with no theme. They will try but i dont think we'll see anything that anyone will want to watch.
Support bacteria, the only culture most people have.
"NYPD Blue Screen"
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
It was only a matter of time. I started noticing a few years ago that in television programs it seems like the "good guys" are always using Apples. The people in positions of power are always using Apples. The "bad guys" and the standard extras are always using PCs. I just figured it is the inherent bias of the movie/creative industry because they have been using Avid and Final Cut for so long that they just tend to feature their own tools in prominent positions. It was only a matter of time before Microsoft went for some real product placement to counter the trend. I wonder how long before they come up with a "reality" program where everyone involved is writing and marketing software and they slant the show to make it seem like developing code for OSX is next to impossible while writing code for Windows is super simple.
...Lorenzo/When I was a kid, we had electricity, but the wires weren't full then; they didn't sag as they do nowadays. Are you aware that sag actually is the limiting factor to power carrying capacity on high tension lines? The more current they carry, the higher their temperature, the higher temperature expands the metals making the wires get longer, and they hang lower. Maintaining safe clearances between the wires and the ground determines the power capacity. And with today's greater demands on our near-capacity electric distribution infrastructure, the power companies are pushing as much current as they can through every wire available.So Lorenzo is absolutely right: the wires are now full, and they sag lower nowadays as a result.
John
I seem to remember the Folgers comercials with Anthony Head and the entire 30-60sec spot was a drama based around a cup of coffee. Every week or two you would get a new comercial which would diplay flogers but bring new action to the drama. It was well done and I still remember them due to the great setup. If the ad people could do something like that I'd support them.
Gave us great franchises like G.I. Joe, He-Man & Transformers
D6 63 0D 70 89 81 BB 8E 7B 7C 5F 5D 54 EA AB 73
Will the advertisements just be clips from 'real' shows... but only 18 minutes per hour? Sounds like a 'brilliant' way to reverse the model.
Like this already isn't happening with The Office. It seems as if that show is out to promote Staples, not only as a brand, but to give the image that it's a well run company too.
Next you'll have detergent manufacturers sponsoring drama serials.
My first thought ran to the cartoons I loved as a child, and how disillusioned I was when I realized that Transformers and He-Man were spin-offs of toy lines (and not the other way around).
I think this is more a sign of the continued infantilization of society than anything.
Can't wait for the Viagra and Cialas Hour to debut.
What's the big deal? It's always been this way in one form or another for television shows. Look at He-Man Masters of the Universe...I for one love the show, along with countless others. (We're also waiting for the 2009 movie, which should kick ass, a la 300...) But if anyone remembers Filmation created that show for Matel as a (basically) 1/2 hour toy commercial to push their merch, and when you saw a new character enter the show, it was a new character in their toy line for sale...Many people love the show regardless of the reasons why it was made at first.
Even more blatant (and even longer ago) Soap Operas started this trend. They're known as such because the whole point of every episode was to sell cleaning products to the viewers, by a combination of product placement and in-show advertising (typically given by the main actors, in character). This concept started on radio in the 1930s and continued into television over the next two decades.
Will this Gemini Division tell me all the good things about Lightspeed Briefs?
Life imitates 30 Rock :( Jack Donague would be proud.
This is nothing new, where do you think Soap Opera came from... it was a program made to sell clothes washing soap. Why is this news?
Huh? [devShell.org]
funny, i read yesterday's article about the continuing rise of p2p file sharing and thought "okay, i'm a big media entity. given that i clearly can no longer control the distribution of my product, and furthermore that interspersed commercials are easily skipped or edited out, how am i going to keep making lots of money ?". the most obvious answer is exactly this: integrate the advertisements further into the content itself.
ie,
open content distribution results in shittier popular content.
Regarding power line sag because of carrying a full load, there is a remarkable analog to testicles in this, but the margin of this page is too small to hold my proof.
The show is called Knight Ridder and Michael is now a crime-fighting reporter who drive KITT, a car with access to all the latest news and information from across the world with the same quality and excellent you've come to expect from Knight Ridder papers.
When I first saw the title of the article, I couldn't help but think of the cartoons I watched as a kid. While I greatly enjoyed them, they were basically just advertisements for related merchandise.
How would this translate to the companies in the summary? The Cisco League of America? The Green Intel Corps 2 Duo? The Microsoft Source Force? Oh, right.
While it sounds silly enough, it has been done. How it'll go for an audience more advanced in years is beyond me, but I suppose that's why I perfer tech to marketing.
this has been around for forever. its called CARTOONS. you really think they made GI Joe, He Man, and Thundercats just because it was creative? no, it was a 22 min ad disguised as entertainment. actually it was pretty good entertainment. bring back the thundercats!
This isn't new. Cartoons whose sole purpose was to push toy lines were all the rage in the 80s-- Transformers, He-Man, and GI Joe ring any bells?
I have no problem with this if they make it good, and don't interrupt it with other advertising.
:)
Ever seen the series of short internet films BMW made? It's called The Hire www.thehire.tv.
They brought in some big name directors and actors, gave them a good budget, premise, and some creative control - and they ended up with some really cool films that also happen to be some of the most effective commercials I've seen.
The trick is that the BMW car is there... but no one shouts it out at you, it's just the tool that the main character uses to do his job (which largely involves cool car chases). And that they're well done films to begin with.
Do I expect NBC to do something similarly cool? I doubt it, but I have no problem with the concept
And good riddance.
This will accelerate the move to Internet video produced by independents and broadcast over the Net.
Let broadcast television continue its race to the bottom with reality shows, sports, and biased news.
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
Almost every other normal idea for a show has been done (we already have too many doctor and crime shows). Will having a show centered around products and services of a company seem forced? Maybe, or it can be just as contrived as any other show. If NBC wants to try this they should go ahead, though I'm sure expectations from viewers will be quite low.