DVR-Proof Commercial Breaks on USA Network
By Ed Martin TV / Video Download Archives
While so many people in the media industry are worrying about the impact of DVRs on the future of commercials, USA Network is quietly addressing the issue in ways that I find extremely effective. Lately, it seems that while scanning through commercial pods in recordings of the network’s sexy spy thriller Burn Notice and its disarming detective comedy Psych I have been stopped cold by a number of fleeting images that prompted me to rewind and see what was going on. Those images were parts of messages from sponsors that I otherwise would have missed.
The best of these was a commercial for KIA Optima that ran at the end of a pod during a recent episode of Psych. It was, in hindsight, DVR-proof. When scanned and when watched it looked and sounded and played like an actual scene from the show. Indeed, that’s why I stopped scanning in the first place: I thought I was into the episode itself. I wasn’t aggravated when I discovered that it was a commercial because it was entertaining in all the ways that I count on scenes from Psych to be.It opened with Shawn Spencer and Gus Guster, the private investigators played by James Roday and Dule Hill, respectively, running from a gunman in a parking garage and taking cover behind an Optima. True to form, Shawn is so taken with the car that he marginalizes their peril. He stands up and says to Gus, “Aw, dude, I’d look totally awesome driving this car, sunroof down, hair blowing gently in the wind.”
Shawn isn’t fazed when the gunman appears and shouts “Don’t move!”
Gus, anxious to diffuse the situation, gestures to the gunman as he says to Shawn, “Actually, he would look awesome driving this car.”
“I would?” the gunman replies, his ego successfully stroked.
“Hop in there!” an encouraging Shawn says to the gunman, gesturing toward the car. An alarm sounds when the thug tries to open the door, scaring him off.
Saved! As Shawn and Gus fist bump an announcer makes the pitch: “The new mid-size KIA Optima gets 32 miles per gallon highway with a 5-star crash safety rating. KIA: The power to surprise.”
The announcer then adds: “Watch all-new episodes of Psych Fridays at 10 on USA.”
Also worth noting: Each episode of Psych ends with out-takes (referred to as Psych-outs) playing adjacent to the closing credits. These clips are sponsored (most recently by Walgreens and Mazda), as indicated by on-screen graphics and voice-overs. (I would be remiss if I didn’t note that several daytime soap operas similarly sponsor their end-of-hour previews of the next day’s episodes. I notice this most often on CBS with Procter & Gamble Productions’ Guiding Light and As the World Turns.)
Burn Noticehas also featured a number of clever sponsorships involving giveaways, each of them presented in spots filled with tantalizing clips from the show. These include Burn Notice Spy Tips, in which series star Jeffrey Donovan, in character as suave spy Michael Westen, answers such questions as, “Where should I hide a spare house key?” A recent Spy Tip was sponsored by Nationwide Insurance. It ended with a voice-over that integrated the show with the sponsor: “Spy knows best, and Nationwide Insurance does, too. So choose the right coverage by customizing auto and home policies for additional savings. Catch Burn Notice Thursdays at 10, only on USA.”
There is also a weekly contest tied to the show called the Ultimate Spy Sweepstakes that serves multiple promotional purposes. “No spy should be caught dead without his essential gear,” said a smooth-taking guy in voice-over in a recent commercial break as clips of Michael and his cohorts Fiona Glenanne (played by sizzling hot Gabrielle Anwar) and Sam Axe (the ingratiating Bruce Campbell) flashed on screen. “Want to win the ultimate high-tech gear? Each week enter the Ultimate Spy Sweepstakes. This week win one of six Nikon Coolpix cameras. Text PIX to USATXT or go to burnnotice.usanetwork.com to enter. Presented by Alltel Wireless. With My Circle get unlimited free calls to any 5, 10 or 20 numbers on any network!” This pitch for the Ultimate Spy Sweepstakes was immediately followed by a commercial for Alltel.
USA’s sister network Sci Fi Channel has been doing similar cool stuff with sponsors during the current run of ten final Battlestar Galactica episodes. KFC is along for the full ride with its Battlestar Galactica Can’t Say That Word on TV Sweepstakes. (This appears on screen as “Can’t Say Fr*k on TV Sweepstakes.”) The spots for this contest are so packed with clips from BSG that a commercial scanner may be tempted to stop and check them out. (I was the first time I saw one.)
The integration of show and sponsor is just as effective here as in the Psych and Burn Noticesponsorships noted above. “Enter online at scifi.com/kfc or text KFC to 72434 every week to win rare BSG toasters and prizes plus a year’s worth of KFC,” says the voice-over. “Ten final episodes! Ten winners! Log on now, grab some KFC and watch Battlestar Galactica the Final Episodes every Friday at 10 on Sci Fi. KFC salutes BSG fans!”
While USA Network and Sci Fi Channel aren’t the only networks to experiment with such promotions, they’re certainly distinguishing themselves these days. And they make it look so simple! Granted, advertiser supported television might start to look pretty silly if every episode of every series was filled with the kinds of promotional spots detailed here, but surely there is room for many more, particularly if they are executed in entertaining ways that make viewers want to watch.
Ed Martin
Ed Martin is the chief television and content critic for MediaVillage. He has written about television and internet programming for several Myers publications since 2000, including The Myers Report, The Myers Programming Report, MediaBizBloggers a…
