Gawker: defamer, promotions

Fox's Promotional Campaign For 'Unhitched' Goes To The 'Seinfeld' Well Twice Too Often

Mark Graham — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:53:24 EST

Despite the dearth of new programming options on television these days, successfully launching a new show can still be quite the challenge. Fox's new show, Unhitched, is no exception. While it has a strong pedigree (EP'd by The Farrelly Brothers), there's still a lot of work to be done in getting viewers to pay attention to a show that has no stars (we crush on Rashida Jones, too, but her name doesn't exactly equate to appointment viewing). And although the show debuted strong when it aired this Sunday (Mediaweek reported a 4.5/7 in overnights, good for a 92% hold from its Family Guy lead-in), the suits at Fox are taking no chances in their promos for the show. Their latest work invokes not one, not two but THREE quotes from TV scribes who compared the show to Seinfeld. Subtle, it is not. As for its effectiveness, we'll just have to wait and see. Oh, and for what it's worth, we liked the pilot quite plenty. [Fox]

WATCH VIDEO

Fox And Farrellys Feed Free Franks!

Seth — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:48:43 EST

Craving a Pink's hot dog, but were hoping to wait until the lines creep up towards Sunset before making the trip? Then you might want to swing by on Friday or Saturday, as Fox has decided to extend the themed lunch promotions that have delighted patrons of the News Café for years (dating right back to their Late Show Starring Joan Rivers pulled pork sandwiches in 1986) to the general public. That's right: "the 'Wieners' Who Brought You There's Something About Mary and Dumb & Dumber" are pleased to provide the first 500 customers to arrive at the landmark tubesteak stand a complimentary "Unhitched Dog," along with your choice of Farrelly Bros.-themed condiments, including tangy There's Something About Mary hair-gel-onnaise. Enjoy!

Unhitched [Fox.com]

Annals Of Pointless Promotion: 'CSI: Consideration-Seeking Impostors'

Seth — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 20:44:12 EDT

A Defamer operative sent in this report, and accompanying photographic evidence, of CBS' valiant attempt at thinking outside of the "full-page ad in Variety" box for their CSI Emmy consideration promotional campaign:

Around noon yesterday at the Wilshire Courtyard (E! Entertainment, Variety Offices, etc.) a van pulls up and out hops what appears to be younger versions of the CSI characters. They have banners and other promo goodies, but only stick around to take some photos. Very odd... So I snapped some photos before they were on their merry way. What amazes me is not that they were trying for some crazy version of a Crime Scene Investigation Unit, but that they succeeded in created a depressing A-Team of marketing monkeys. Emmy time in LA...

Creative, though a random sampling of lunchbreak passers-by were, like our operative, rendered more confused and sad by the guerrilla marketing tactic than moved to canvas the nearest Emmy-voter on behalf of the procedural. Still, the campaign was deemed enough of a success to send the CSI Emmy Consideration Van™ out on another run today, though CBS overlord Les Moonves quietly insisted that two of the out-of-work actors cast for the gig be brought out back and brutally dismembered and gutted with a hacksaw, in order to give the stunt more "grisly victim" realism.

Mission: Advertising Overkill

Mark — Fri, 05 May 2006 19:04:30 EDT

In its continuing, valiant efforts to raise awareness for the obscure art film they're releasing today, Paramount has apparently taken its publicity assault to the skies. We've received several reports like this one this afternoon:

What's that sinister drone rumbling over Burbank? Three planes flying in some haphazard formation with long billowing banners emblazoned with the M:I:3 logo. Three planes...three M:I:3 films. Urgh. Tried to grab a camera...wasn't fast enough, and my camera-phone is shite.

The planes were spotted circling the Paramount lot a couple of hours ago, prompting one of our operatives there to complain, "As if we didn't know our biggest picture opened today." (Just in case someone might have forgotten, the studio's made sure that the Mission theme music plays whenever someone's on hold when calling the 'Mount.) And we've had other sightings of the planes buzzing the Universal lot, an unambiguous, airborne declaration of war against a competitor. Still, as unnecessary and tacky as the banners might be (whatever happened to the elegant simplicity of sky-writing?), they're still better than scaring the shit out of potential ticket-buyers just trying to buy a newspaper.

More "Earl" Badvertising: NBC Straps TVs To Out Of Work Actresses

Mark — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:05:28 EDT

Judging from last night's strong opening night Nielsens, much of the viewing public wasn't as actively turned off by NBC's wildly intrusive Earl-awareness campaign as we were, but another report of one of their unconventional promotions we'd didn't know about has come in:

I was at Barney's Beanery on the Promenade in Santa Monica last weekend. It was opening day of football season and starting at about noon, four or five girls were walking around with black t-shirts with MONITORS in them with clips of My Name Is Earl playing.
Everyone outside (mostly old tourists) seemed to be more intrigued by the fact that these girls had monitors up their shirts and wondered why they would ever do a gig like that in such a public place on a day of rest and football, rather than what the heck the show My Name is Earl was actually about.

And none of the girls were good-looking.

As galling as we're sure this interruption was to football fans, we think we're finally starting to see some method in this guerilla-marketing madness. NBC obviously wanted all of the attention focussed on the television show flashing across their walking billboards' chests, not on their faces. Annoying, sure, but coolly logical.

Earl Finally Convinces Us To Skip His Show [Defamer]
NBC’s Kevin Reilly Feels Sparks Of Impending Success [Defamer]
My Name Is Earl, Please Don’t Watch My Show [Defamer]

ABC Celebrates First Female President By Defacing Currency

Mark — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 17:35:21 EDT

More desperate than ever to reach the ever-shrinking and increasingly distracted pool of television viewers, the networks are turning to publicity stunts to generate buzz for their shows. Leading the way is the resurgent ABC; after successfully littering beaches with promotional waste, their marketing braintrust has decided that the best method to reach influential eyeballs is to deface currency, replacing the low-Q-rated guy who currently wastes valuable advertising space on the one-dollar bill with a poutier-lipped, more feminine version. From the LAT:

To lure women to "Desperate Housewives," for example, the network supplied dry cleaners around the country with thousands of bags that carried the show's catchphrase: "Everyone has a little dirty laundry." To spark interest in the mysterious, trapped-on-an-island drama "Lost," ABC arranged for tiny bottles to wash ashore on beaches. Inside was a message: "Lost" could be "found" on Wednesdays.

"If you do things right, you get higher 'talk value,' " said Michael Benson, ABC's senior vice president for marketing. This season, he's at it again: to hype "Commander in Chief," a new drama starring Geena Davis as the first woman president, ABC got the U.S. Treasury to OK the circulation of an undisclosed number of dollar bills with stickers of Davis' face covering George Washington's.

Struggling NBC is doing its best to incorporate these nontraditional campaigns, but early efforts in which the network sponsored petty thugs to rob and brutally beat the elderly (and then, of course, make amends to their victims) to promote My Name is Earl were disappointing. They're cautiously optimistic that an upcoming round of network-hosted frontal lobotomy parties for Joey fans will generate a better response.

TV Networks Pursue the 'Super Fan' [LAT]
Previously: Bob Iger’s Master Plan: ABC Litters Beaches With Promotional Waste [Defamer]

Fox News Cafe: I Eat Dead People

Mark — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 15:08:04 EDT

We fear that the demands of the fall TV season, with its unforgiving schedule of constant show launches, might have finally taxed the promotional geniuses behind the Fox News Cafe's legendary themed menus to their breaking point. How else to explain today's bill of fare at the cafeteria, celebrating tonight's premiere of forensic anthropology procedural drama Bones? If ever there was a time to take a pass on getting cute at the deli counter and salad bar, this was it. Today's menu is jam-packed with macabre offerings certain to kill Fox employees' appetites in cold blood. The "Cadaverous Combo" couldn't sound more delish if it were served buffet-style from a coroner's cold slab. If that's not setting off your Pavlovian salivating response, how about the "Skeleton Sandwiches Featuring Premium Boar's Head Meats," which evoke ghouls gnawing at the last pieces of decaying flesh stubbornly clinging to the bone? Not so much? Then surely you'll want to slurp up the "DNA Daily Soup," which we pray in the name of all that is good and holy isn't from the cream family today. In a word: Yum.

Happy lunching, Foxies. The rest of the menu is after the jump.

Today's News Cafe Menu

Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Rotisserie
THE NEWS CAFÉ – TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 2005
TODAY'S MENU IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY
BONES
SERIES PREMIERE TONIGHT AT 8PM

REICHS' ROTISSERIE & GRILL
SWEET & SOUR CHICKEN
½ 4.95
¼ 3.95

Side Special:
STEAMED RICE 1.00
STEAMED GREEN BEANS & CARROTS 1.00
CHICKEN EGG ROLL 1.00

CADAVEROUS COMBO: ½ CHICKEN OR TOFU, ONE SIDE & FOUNTAIN DRINK
5.95* TAX INCLUDED

Pizza Oven
POSTMORTEM PIZZA BY THE SLICE 1.75
THREE CHEESE PIZZA
PEPPERONI PIZZA
BUFFALO CHICKEN PIZZA

PROCEDURAL PERSONAL PIZZA 4.95
MUSHROOM, OLIVE & CHOPPED TOMATO PIZZA

CORONER'S COMBO: 2 SLICES OF PIZZA,
SIDE SALAD & FOUNTAIN DRINK
5.00 *TAX INCLUDED
Oven
VICTIM'S VEGETARIAN OVEN SPECIAL 4.95
SWEET & SOUR TOFU, BELL PEPPERS & PINEAPPLE

Sandwiches
SKELETON SANDWICHES
FEATURING PREMIUM BOAR'S HEAD MEATS
CREATE YOUR OWN SANDWICH
TURKEY, ROAST BEEF, HAM, TUNA SALAD,
CHICKEN SALAD, EGG SALAD 5.00

SQUINT'S SANDWICH SPECIAL 5.50
SAUSAGE, ROASTED BELL PEPPERS & MARINARA SAUCE

CRIME LAB COMBO: ADD CHIPS & FOUNTAIN DRINK
5.75* TAX INCLUDED
Pasta
ANTHROPOLOGIST'S ENTRÉES
CARVED ROAST BEEF, BORDELAISE SAUCE & CHEDDAR BISCUITS 5.95

STEAMED VEGETABLE MEDLEY 1.00
MASHED POTATOES 1.00

DNA DAILY SOUP SELECTION
LENTIL 2.50

CASE CLOSED COMBO: CARVED BEEF & BISCUITS, ONE SIDE & FOUNTAIN DRINK
6.95* TAX INCLUDED
Salad Bar
SCIENTIST SALAD BAR
TOMATO & CUCUMBER
SIDE SALAD
CHOICE OF SALAD 1.50
CREATE YOUR OWN SALAD BAR
4.00 SMALL SALAD BAR, 5.00 MEDIUM SALAD BAR, 6.50 LARGE SALAD BAR

Previously: Fox News Cafe Returns To Prison: With Food Like This, We’ll Take A Life Sentence! [Defamer]

Fox News Cafe Returns To Prison: With Food Like This, We'll Take A Life Sentence!

Mark — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 15:42:33 EDT

Undeterred by the swift and resounding failure of its ex-con-with-a-heart-of-gold drama Jonny Zero and corresponding vaguely prison-themed menu at their News Cafe, the promotional visionaries at Fox have once again tapped the penal system for culinary inspiration. Right now, hungry employees can partake from a selection of Big House-flavored offerings, like braised pork fresh off the "Death Row"tisserie," "penitentiary personal pizzas," and the "solitary sandwich special" to show their support of tonight's Prison Break premiere. Sadly, there is no "shower rape corn-on-the-cob"; perhaps they're saving that for the wrap party.

Today's full menu is after the jump.

Rotisserie THE NEWS CAFÉ – MONDAY AUGUST 29, 2005 TODAY’S MENU IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY PRISON BREAK 2-HOUR PREMIERE TONIGHT AT 8PM!
DEATH ROW”TISSERIE & GRILL
BRAISED PORK 4.95
CHILI CREAM SAUCE

Side Special:
ROASTED GARLIC & TOMATO RICE 1.00
STEAMED BROCCOLI & CAULIFLOWER 1.00

CONVICT’S COMBO: BRAISED PORK, ONE SIDE & FOUNTAIN DRINK
5.95* TAX INCLUDED

Pizza Oven
PRISONER’S PIZZA BY THE SLICE 1.75
THREE CHEESE PIZZA
PEPPERONI PIZZA
TOMATO, BASIL & RED ONION PIZZA

PENITENTIARY PERSONAL PIZZA 4.95
BBQ CHICKEN, SMOKED MOZZARELLA & TOMATO PIZZA

CONVICT’S COMBO: 2 SLICES OF PIZZA,
SIDE SALAD & FOUNTAIN DRINK
5.00 *TAX INCLUDED
Oven
Sandwiches
THE SLAMMER SANDWICHES
FEATURING PREMIUM BOAR’S HEAD MEATS
CREATE YOUR OWN SANDWICH
TURKEY, ROAST BEEF, HAM, TUNA SALAD,
CHICKEN SALAD, EGG SALAD 5.00

SOLITARY SANDWICH SPECIAL 5.50
WARM PASTRAMI & SWISS CHEESE

CONVICT’S COMBO: ADD CHIPS & FOUNTAIN DRINK
5.75* TAX INCLUDED
Pasta
GREAT ESCAPE ENTRÉES
1 KUNG PAO CHICKEN EGG ROLL, 1 SHRIMP SPRING ROLL, 2 SHRIMP POT STICKERS 2 VEGETABLE POT STICKERS &
2 CRAB RANGOON 5.95
PONZU, SWEET & SOUR, HOISIN SAUCE

GREEN ONION & SESAME TOSSED NOODLES 1.00
ROASTED GARLIC & PEPPER BROCCOLI 1.00
STEAMED BOK CHOY 1.00
STEAMED EDAMAME 1.00

CELLMATE’S SOUP SELECTION
CHICKEN LIME & CILANTRO 2.50

CONVICT’S COMBO: ONE ENTREE, ONE SIDE & FOUNTAIN DRINK
6.95* TAX INCLUDED

Salad Bar
SCOFIELD’S SALAD BAR
MIXED GREENS, SPROUTS, CHERRY TOMATOES & CUCUMBERS, ROASTED SHALLOT DRESSING
SIDE SALAD
CHOICE OF SALAD 1.50
CREATE YOUR OWN SALAD BAR
4.00 SMALL SALAD BAR, 5.00 MEDIUM SALAD BAR, 6.50 LARGE SALAD BAR

Previously: Fox News Cafe Serves Up Prison Food [Defamer]