ABC Networks has been raising eyebrows this week with a stealth marketing push for its new show Six Degrees.
Runway models have spent the week roaming New York and a handful of other cities, giving passers by a hand-written note that says “Remember me? Get in touch” with an e-mail address for either “Whitney” or “Steven.” Curious consumers who send a note get a reply that sends them to Whitney or Steven’s personal Web site—actually the promotional site for Six Degrees, which premiered last night.
The weeklong street push dovetails with a print, online and, in New York, transit-ad campaign that promotes the show’s premise: You never know how you might be related to the strangers around you.
Ads in New York’s subway, and on elevator screens in a few markets, point out possible connections: “Someone in this elevator might someday be your boss,” or “The man in the blue suit is interested in you.”
“We want people to be intrigued by it and think, ‘Do I know this person?’ That’s so feasible in New York,” says ABC VP-Advertising and Marketing Darren Schillace. “It’s simple and subtle, [and works] in places where you’re in a small space and don’t look at each other.”
Some consumers aren’t amused. One has even outed the campaign on the Manhattan gossip blog Gawker.com, suggesting that such phony friends be “beaten until they confess” to their ulterior motives.
But Schillace isn’t worried about backlash against the show: “People might be upset if they instantly fell in love with the model, but it’s just designed to make you think. People are realistic enough to understand what we’re trying to do.”
Civic Entertainment Group, New York, handles street teams. BLT & Associates, Los Angeles, handles advertising creative, with Weiden & Kennedy, New York, handling media.
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