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VIDEOCan Pepsi's MacGruber Outwit TiVo?
By
Scott Reeves Feb 04, 2009 2:30 pm
Commercials in comedy clothing.
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What looked like a "MacGruber" sketch appeared during the Super Bowl, but it was instead a clever ad for Pepsi (PEP). It also indirectly plugged NBC's (GE) popular comedy show by using the familiar character created by cast member Will Forte - a twofer.
The tactic is part of an ongoing effort to make ads that viewers won't ignore or use their Tivo to skip.
Product placement in movies and TV shows is a familiar part of the plan to reach prospective customers who have grown weary of standard pitches. Using a Saturday Night Life sketch as the jumping off point for an advertisement is a deft variation on Nascar's decision to plaster sponsor logos on its cars and drivers, or movie stars wearing the latest designer dress or watch to some grand shindig.
Staples (SPLS) artfully places its products in a TV show it sponsors, The Office. The company or its products are often part of the plot. In one episode, Dwight Schrute (played by Rainn Wilson) "quit" his job at Staples and the company put out a mock memo saying it wasn't sad to see the mug leave.
Could this be next: Yosemite National Park, sponsored by the kind and gracious folks at Dewey, Cheetum & Howe? Well, if it helps keep the park open and the hiking trails in good shape, why not?
The Super Bowl ads for Pepsi piggy-backed on an ongoing parody of MacGyver, a hit TV action series in the 1980s. The ad paralleled the Saturday Night Live sketches with a goofball theme song, a terrified sidekick and MacGruber's distraction of the moment -- in this case, a Pepsi -- sucking the viewer into the ad by not looking or sounding like an ad.
It's a sly advertising technique for those who say they hate TV ads. "MacGruber" makes the ad entertaining by turning the pitch into a soft-sell - and that's much more engaging than a yammering head plugging a product. The ad uses well-known characters in a familiar set-up - and might entertain viewers long enough for them to forget to hit the search button on their TiVos (TIVO) or DirecTV (DTV).
SNL cast members appearing in the ad were paid for their time. The ads were made with the help of Lorne Michaels, producer of Saturday Night Live.
The ads were well received and you can bet the formula will be repeated in the future by Saturday Night Live actors and distinctive characters created by other shows. An estimated 95.4 million people watched this year's Super Bowl, an audience second only in size to last year's game.
Purists are sure to gasp, but mixing well-known characters with advertising isn't new. After all, Snoopy has been flogging MetLife for years.
Isn't it about time for Smokey-the-Bear to stop hectoring us about forest fires and endorse a line of camping gear to raise money for forest management?
No positions in stocks mentioned.
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