Products Are Stars in New Ad Strategy
This season on NBC's hit series "The Apprentice," the Donald has been sharing the spotlight with several other big names -- brand names, that is.
Beginning with the season premiere in September, when two teams battled to design a new toy for Mattel Inc., producers of the so-called reality show have regularly and seamlessly woven major advertisers into their story lines. Forget traditional product placement, when a bag of Tostitos or a box of Pop Tarts appears like a prop in the background of a TV show. On "The Apprentice," entire episodes have been built around Procter & Gamble Co.'s Crest Refreshing Vanilla Mint toothpaste, Levi Strauss & Co. denim jeans and Pepsi-Cola North America's Pepsi Edge.
What viewers aren't told is that companies are paying "product integration" fees of up to $2 million to put their goods center screen, plus in some cases hundreds of thousands more to buy ad time from NBC. That money buys them a large measure of control over how their products are portrayed. Company executives even appear on the show, which stars real estate mogul Donald Trump.
"The products have become the stars of the show," said Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert, a Portland, Ore.-based nonprofit group that monitors "ad creep" into entertainment programming. "I wonder how Mr. Trump feels now that he's been upstaged by Crest?"
How much control do the show's corporate partners have? Just ask the folks at Mars Inc., whose new M-Azing candy bar is featured on tonight's episode. They say they nixed a suggestion from producers of "The Apprentice" to mimic the classic "I Love Lucy" episode in which Lucy and Ethel worked a speeded-up candy assembly line. The company feared the inevitably chaotic outcome would send the wrong message about the bar, which is filled with M&M bits.
"We have strict regulations and high quality standards," said Janis Smith-Gomez, vice president of marketing for Masterfoods USA, the snack food division of Mars. "That's what M&M candies are all about. It isn't some Lucille Ball-schlocky product."
Viewers tonight will see the show's five remaining contestants competing to make candies good enough to pass inspection by 10 Masterfoods quality-control officers.
In an era when networks and advertisers are becoming increasingly concerned about the threat of commercial-zapping digital recording devices such as TiVo, "The Apprentice's" blend of promotion and drama offers an alternative to 30-second spots.
