Can a Brand Jump the Shark?
40-somethings know that the term jumped the shark was coined after an episode of Happy Days when Fonzie overcame his fear of sharks by jumping over one while water skiing. The series was pretty much over from that point on. A lot of times TV shows jump the shark when a couple has a baby (Mad About You), a new character is added (Cousin Oliver on the Brady Bunch) or a couple hook up (Tony and Angela on Who's the Boss). Bad decisions that ruin a good thing.
When a TV show and an advertiser hook up during the show is it possible that either one or both can jump the shark? I believe that it's true. Every time an advertiser gets in bed with a TV show the potential is there. Trading Spaces jumped the shark when Paige Davis—reading from a script—told the red team to clean up their newly designed room with Swiffer mops and Bounty. The show would hit us over the head with a product demo then cut to a 5 second close-up of the logo on the package conveniently placed on the counter. Talk about buzz-kill.
Advertisers are buying into the idea that consumers aren't watching TV commercials, that the DVR is killing the medium. Maybe this is sorta true, but I think that what they are doing now—sponsorship inside of a TV show—is killing their brand and ruining the show at the same time. As a consumer and creative director, I am conflicted. I can't blame brands for trying to reach consumers. And I can't blame networks for trying to replace income from less commercial revenue. But as a consumer, I hate it. Most of time it comes off as fake and obnoxious. Is that the right message that brands want to send?
Reality TV is now Brand Advertising TV.
Last night, on Bravo TV's Top Chef, Padma told the cheftestants "Get into your Highlanders, we are going on a field trip." We then see 3 Toyota Highlanders rolling down the road and park behind each other. Close up on car logo. Ugh. I'd rather see more cooking. Then, Padma tells us and the cheftestants that the block party cooking challenge is sponsored by mealstogether.com. What? Who? Luckily Kyle/TheBookPolice, a blogger, did the research for me. Mealstogether.com is owned by Clorox. Clorox owns KC Masterpiece, Hidden Valley and Kingsford charcoal. Oh, that's what all the endless close-ups on the labels were for — product pimping. And at the website — a cross promotion with Top Chef. Don't get me started on all of the cuts to Wholefoods products this year. OK I get it. Who is writing and directing the show? The producers, salespeople, advertisers? All the suits. No one creative.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I am ranting about this because my beloved Apple is killing their brand during Amercian Idol. Apple has the best advertising on TV. Period. I have never seen product demonstration ads better than the iPhone spots. Or anything hipper than the iPod commercials. Loved the Mac and PC guys. And I think I have every word of "New Soul" song featured in the new Macbook Air commercial memorized. It plays during Idol and everywhere else on the TV.
Last week Ryan Seacrest "borrowed" an iPhone from a girl in the audience who just happened to have one in her hand. He then pretended to demonstrate — the screen was black — how easy it is to use an iPhone to download a Idol's song from iTunes. Behind him a video showed a close up (someone else) touching an iPhone. Bad, bad product demonstration. Last night we saw a five minute video about how the Idols record their songs that are available on iTunes. One used the iPod to learn her song. Cut to iPod while she talked about her iPod. One downloads other Idols' songs. Cut to iTunes Website while she talked about iTunes. Cut to Idol working on the laptop. And so on and so on. A 5 minute lame commercial disguised as a behind-the-scenes package on the contestants. Shame on Fox. Shame on Apple. And I can't believe Steve Jobs approves of this.
Advertisers beware. People are starting to rant. Read the ew.com TV Watch recaps and the reader comments. Bloggers and consumers are talking negatively and complaining about the endless promotions during TV shows. Think twice before hooking up on TV. Has the Apple brand jumped the shark because it's in bed with Idol? Can you think of any other Brands that have jumped the shark because of TV show tie-ins?
Comments
You mentioned Trading Spaces - how about their connection with Home Depot? That's been going since day one. Obviously a good tie in, but at the same time, too obvious and way over done.
Another one: Crest White Strips product placement on TLC's What Not To Wear. Horrible!
Love this post! Thank you Nancy.
Posted by: Ed Feather | March 28, 2008 03:14 PM
Nice blog. I think product placement is giving everyone a headache. Although, I do rather enjoy Stephen Colbert's shameless Doritos plug on nearly every show.
BTW, this comment is sponsored by the good people at Tylenol.
Posted by: Steve Lynch | March 31, 2008 11:06 AM
While there are lots of examples of poor product placement, let's not dismiss the channel in it's entirety. Done well, placements can fit seamlessly into the storyline and achieve everyone's objectives. It just warrants more creative thought as to how the show & the product fit together, as you point out, Nancy.
Think about Sears in Extreme Home Makeover - the products are integral to the story line. Or Cadillac's appearance in the Matrix, which made everyone sit up and take notice that this was not your Grandfather's Cadillac.
And just to play Devil's advocate...you had never heard of MealsTogether.com before. You went ahead and checked it out, and then blogged about it. I read your post and went and checked it out myself. So the placement *has* generated some brand awareness and traffic to their site.
I agree that marketers should be wary of flooding the channel, but product placement can have a purposeful place in the overall marketing toolkit.
Posted by: Stephanie Rogers | March 31, 2008 07:30 PM
Stephanie as a Creative director, I do agree with you that some of this kind of sponsorship works and it's good and strategic. The Hersey's challenge on Project Runway this season resulted in some fabulous design with Hershey's branding. Admittedly, I remember every product placement that irks me as a consumer. I guess my point is that while I remember it, it's not always in the best light or as intended. It is negative. My problem with the website plug it that it didn't make sense to the script of the show. It came from out of no where and had no context.
Posted by: Nancy Carle | April 1, 2008 09:32 AM
Steve I think the Dorito's plug by Steven Colbert is fun. The brand accepts that Steve will bring humor to its pitch. It understands the personality of the show and allows it's product to fit within the script and intention of the writers. I have seen the same thing on 3rd Rock as well.
Posted by: Nancy Carle | April 1, 2008 09:35 AM
Hey! That's me! Thanks for the shout-out.
And for the record, I can't believe that Apple would hitch themselves to Idol. It's not like iPhones are so cheap that 14 year old girls can afford them anyway. What's the point? They've got the best penetration of any consumer goods company ever. Every damn thing that starts with "i-" now is doing the legwork for Apple.
Posted by: Kyle/thebookpolice | June 19, 2008 03:04 PM