When Bruce Springsteen sang, “There’s 57 channels and nothing’s on,” he may have been speaking about the advertising.
There certainly is plenty on. While watching eight hours of programming over several days, PROMO viewed 40 different promotional messages among 316 total spots. That covers about 13 percent of all ads — and that doesn’t even take multiple airings into account.
We spent a good portion of our time watching the Big Four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox), along with The History Channel, A&E, Lifetime, USA, TNN, and ESPN. But we also caught snippets of other stations while surfing around — to make it a true-to-life endeavor.
We assure you, this exercise was the first time in years in which we actually sat through the commercials without remote-controlling to other channels at breaks. The spots we encountered were plentiful, very repetitious, and in large part unmemorable — until the sheer repetition forced the message to sink in.
One that was almost impossible to not remember was McDonald’s “I speak Atlantean” spot for its Atlantis: The Lost Empire Happy Meal tie-in. The ad was on a heavy schedule in four different time periods on both broadcast and basic cable networks.
Overall, retail sales and “special” service offers dominated the promotional ads, accounting for almost half the total. Kmart touted its Blue Light Always discount program; Gateway Computer Systems pitched the Gateway Guarantee (to top any competitor’s price); Victoria’s Secret pushed its semi-annual sale; and Verizon Online offered a laundry list: free activation, modem, PC camera, and one month of service to new subscribers.
We otherwise encountered five sweepstakes/games, four premium offers, six sponsorship messages, and three cause tie-ins. Here’s a rundown of what we saw.
Weekday Afternoons
The soaps (Guiding Light and General Hospital, if you must know) have the CPG advertisers while talk shows Ricki and Sally have the (let’s be kind, here) “personal growth ads”: weight-loss clinics, personal injury lawyers, and one Miss Cleo and her tarot readings.
The most elaborate campaign was a joint venture from ABC and Coca-Cola that featured stunt programming: The three-week ABC Daytime Summer Concert Jam sweepstakes required viewers to watch episodes of General Hospital, All My Children, and One Life to Live to see performances by recording artists SheDaisy, BBMak, and Kortney Kayle; after each performance, they called a toll-free number announced on the show to enter the sweeps, which gave away a live performance from one of the three performers at the winner’s school. (Bored housewives need not apply, apparently.) Nine first-place winners scored VIP passes to a concert, while 90 second-place winners earned autographed CDs.
Thankfully, there’s always the cartoon alternative: Over on Fox (as well as on sister cable station FX), Taco Bell pushed the Taco Bell Quest, an in-store tie-in to summer movie Tomb Raider that is sending the grand-prize winner and three friends on an archeological trip via private jet. Additional prizes include $1 million in cash and a Land Rover.
Weekend Afternoons
To avoid infomercials and bad TV movies, we stuck to sports. Major League Baseball games feature a plethora of sponsor spots and on-air mentions: Before each commercial break of NBC’s Game of the Week between the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays, announcers recited the names and slogans of such sponsors as Southwest Airlines and Michelob Light. Local automotive dealers dominated the breaks: New England Ford Dealers continuously offered $2,000 cash back on Rangers as part of Ford Truck Month.
Elsewhere, Chevy dealers pitched $2,500 cash back on Cavaliers during the New York Mets vs. Atlanta Braves game on the WB. And on CBS, Buick received an infinite number of mentions and ads (the latter featuring endorser Tiger Woods and offering cash back) as title sponsor of the Buick Classic golf tournament.
Prime Time
With the last sweeps period a distant memory and reruns abounding, promos were fairly light. NBC encouraged tune-in to Access Hollywood for a chance to win tickets to a Backstreet Boys concert (before A.J. went into rehab); the contest required viewers to listen to local radio stations the following day for a call-in quiz on the show’s content.
Coca-Cola also drove viewers to radio as part of its Pop the Top campaign, encouraging consumers to submit song playlists to local stations. Those whose selections are chosen to air are registered for a sweeps giving away $5,000 to design an “ultimate music concert experience.”
Also noted were the Las Vegas High Roller Fantasy sweeps from Yahoo Travel and Philip Morris’s heartstrings-tugging, cause-trumpeting spots.
Saturday Morning
Among the networks airing cartoons, Fox hosted a Fox Kids Goes Wild with Dr. Dolittle 2 sweepstakes in spots for the new Eddie Murphy movie, and McDonald’s was everywhere. The adult-focused channels had more car spots including the Toyota Big Event’s $2,500 savings offer.
Or was that a Chevy spot?
Network
