Thinking About Ads Outside of the Tube

When your magazine can light up of its own accord, or the simple act of parking makes you think about the season premiere of a popular TV show, you might be concerned. But in this crazy advertising wave for the fall 2007 season of broadcast TV, those events are more than possible. From outlandish street team techniques to creative attempts to insert TV shows into daily life, advertising has taken a unique turn. After a summer of being killed in the ratings by cable shows, broadcast TV has been using its best ideas to capture the attention of the 18-49 critical demographic. But does all this random free stuff and over-the-top marketing actually make people watch the show? And does a show’s success have anything to do with its unique way of getting its name out in the open? Columbia students weigh in on the ridiculous ads they may have—literally—run into this summer and early fall, and concur that even if the advertising was great, the show has to live up to the hype.

The show: Pushing Daisies (ABC, Wednesdays at 8 p.m.)
The marketing: Street teams across the country hit potential markets of interest and handed out daisies to passersby.
The reaction: “That’s really different and much better than the normal street teams handing out fliers. All the ads have daisies and it’s such a creative way to play on death,” says Susie Ko, CC ’10, who enjoyed the premiere of Pushing Daisies. “It’s an eye-catching way to advertise, because being handed a daisy is weird, but then you remember it.”

The show: Reaper (CW, Tuesday at 9 p.m.)
The marketing: A new alcoholic energy drink—with an accompanying 21-and-under safe non-alcoholic version—called Reaper was distributed throughout the country in bars and on campuses.
The reaction: “I don’t know how much I’d ever want to drink something called Reaper. And even if I did, I’m not sure that I would make the association between the drink and the show,” says Elyse Ross, BC ’09. Ross also notes that the only worthwhile show on CW is America’s Next Top Model.

The show: Cane (CBS, Tuesday at 10 p.m.)
The marketing: Included a mojito-flavored sugar stick in a recent issue of subscribers’ Rolling Stone magazine.
The reaction: “While sugar sticks and mojitos are all very sexy and enticing, they don’t make me want to watch TV,” Gold Truong, SEAS ’08, says. “The all-star cast and intriguing premise is what actually piques my interest in Cane.”

The show: Dirty Sexy Money (ABC, Wednesdays at 10 p.m.)
The marketing: The Darlings, the fictional high society family on which the show is based, appeared in tabloids and gossip blogs all summer.
The reaction: “I read gossip blogs, which is such a guilty pleasure, but I didn’t even realize that the ads were for a show until I saw the subway advertisements. So maybe it wasn’t quite clear enough in its viral campaign, but I definitely think that they were approaching the right audience in the right way,” Marlene DeOliveira, SEAS ’08, says. She regularly watches Dirty Sexy Money.

The show: Bionic Woman (NBC, Wednesday at 9 p.m.)
The marketing: Entertainment Weekly ran an advertisement of the Bionic Woman with one eye that lit up when the page was turned.
The reaction: “I’m a sucker for those kinds of ads, so it actually does make me want to watch,” says Sarah Peaceman, BC/JTS ‘08. “If something cool like that catches my attention and makes me remember the show, I’m much more likely to tune in.”

The show: Ugly Betty (ABC, Thursday at 8 p.m.)
The marketing: Pop superstar Mika rerecorded his hit “Big Girls (You Are Beautiful)” to include Betty’s name. “Betty (You Are Beautiful)” hit the internet to much success.
The reaction: “Songs with references to other forms of pop culture are always really effective—like that LFO song about Abercrombie and Fitch. Using one form of pop culture to talk about another medium just reinforces the perception of the show as an integral part of society,” Kieron Cindric, CC ’08, says.

The show: Gossip Girl (CW, Wednesday at 9 p.m.)
The marketing: The mannequins in the front window of Kitson, a trendy L.A. boutique, were dressed as characters from the show in the week leading up to the premiere. Cell phone and blackberry charms were also handed out in malls.
The reaction: “I don’t think this really worked as a good advertisement—it’s really not wide-scale enough to make an impact. The 18-49 demographic lives other places than just L.A. and doesn’t always hit the mall,” Jenny Merkin, CC ’09, says. She adds that none of her friends watch Gossip Girl, even though she herself had wanted to before schoolwork got in the way.

The show: Desperate Housewives (ABC, Sunday at 9 p.m.)
The marketing: New parking space lines in Southern California parking lots were painted to read “Parking for Desperate Housewives.”
The reaction: “It grabs your attention, that’s for sure,” Shoshana Goldberg, CC ’08, says. “You’re caught off-guard when you see it, so it forces you to read it. But I have no idea why they’d use a parking lot—that doesn’t fit with the show at all and wouldn’t make me remember to watch.” Goldberg hasn’t watched Desperate Housewives since its first season.

The show: Chuck (NBC, Monday at 8 p.m.)
The marketing: A mysterious Web site that at first mimicked the main character’s workspace changed the day before the premiere: www.chucksecret.com. Ads for the fictional store where Chuck works also appeared as pop-ups in Rolling Stone.
The reaction: “Making fictional aspects of a show seem real draws you to watch the show, and makes it interesting,” Tom Sansani, CC ’08, says. As a further part of their marketing, Sansani saw the premiere early, on an airplane ride home. “But advertising aside, I thought Chuck failed at mixing the elements of humor and action, and it was a pretty ludicrous premise. So I’m not watching anyway.”