Match has landed a season-long product placement in a TBS sitcom through MediaHub, the media planning and buying division at Mullen.
Match will shell out between $1-2 million to be features in My Boys, based on a woman sports reporter in Chicago.
The PerfectMatch-themed Must Love Dogs was the last big product placement we’ve seen.
Over the weekend I watched Casino Royal this weekend and my friend and we had fun pointing out all the of product placements in the movie (Aston Martin, coke, Ford, Sony). It was fun because some of the placements were difficult to see unless you were paying attention.
I worked in advertising in New York City for a few years, and I’m the kind of person that enjoys commercials more than most sitcoms. I’m all for visual product placement, it’s a necessary evil for network television. Tivo and other DVR technologies have made it increasingly difficult for advertisers to reach audiences and many of the shows are so bad they can’t get advertisers the old fashion way.
Match CEO Jim Safka:
It’s a fully integrated campaign that feels less like a sponsorship or advertisement and more like a part of the program.
The waxing poetic over the bygone years of shows sponsored by General Electric is so over. Let’s hope sitcoms don’t evolve into “brands gone wild.â€?
Audiences will quickly let Match know if they want a dating service in their television program. It’s a lot easier to place a product than a service. A Powerbook or Coke just sits there, make a statement about the person in the scene.
The My Boys website has a calendar with Thursday being “don’t forget to sign up for email alertsâ€? day. I thought it was for Match but it’s for the show.
Early reviews of “My Boys� are mixed to positive. The show premiers tonight in TBS at 10/9c.
I wonder if Match gets their money back if the show bombs?
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