Worldscreen.com reports that NBC will see Ford's Knight Rider and raise it an everything. In other words, GM has cut a product placement deal that should see the peacock network festooned with GM products, featured in everything from "My Own Worst Enemy" to "Top Gear." Yes, there is that. Anyone harboring the idea that the NBC version of the no-holds-barred British car program will be critical of advertisers' vehicles would do well to clock the fact that this GM – NBC tie-up is worth several tens of millions of dollars. That and the admission that the accord (so to speak) is "not just been about media units, it's also about how we as an advertiser can dig deeper into their brands… and ours." This from Dino Bernacchi, GM's director of marketing alliances and branded entertainment. But the inappropriately-branded car puns don't stop there. "NBC has really been aggressive to promote alternative ideas in-program and around-the-program that leverages multiple touch points. We call it Fusion Marketing— partnering with the creative community around ideas that build relationships with a passionate audience but done through the lens of the entertainment property to showcase the cool, new great cars and trucks we offer. This deal sets a tone for how we'll be approaching this year's upfronts." Hey, at least they're up front about it. Or, as far as viewers are concerned, not.
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To be honest, anyone who’s got an IQ higher than that of the offspring of the village idiot and a TV weathergirl, will know something is up when NBC Top Gear give the latest GM product a glowing review and then spot, in the ad break, a succession of GM adverts.
In fact, any review medium which is subject to advertising should be treated with caution. Unless it is truly indepedent (i.e TTAC or BBC Top Gear), you can never be sure, what to believe.
Many of the TV shows of the ’70’s (especially “crime dramas”) prominently featured a ‘perferered’ brand of cars over others, and usually had a spot in the closing credits for “vehicles supplied by XXX”.
At that time, I believe that the show’s producers made these agreements to keep costs under control, being that in many “crime dramas” of the time, the ‘victims’ were often the four-wheeled ones.
Wow this Chevy Aveo is fantastic don’t you think?
Oh yes, I do, it is really great.
And this Pontiac G6 is one of the best sedans ever!
I concur. I also wanted to tell you how smart you look in that shirt.
Well thank you! I also admire your attire.
I say, we should go and enjoy a picnic.
What a neat idea! While we are there we can learn about GM’s green technology and how they are saving the Earth.
Great then, we are very swell indeed. We are all happy and swell. Yet another wonderful show!
shaker
Many of the TV shows of the ’70’s (especially “crime dramas”) prominently featured a ‘perferered’ brand of cars over others, and usually had a spot in the closing credits for “vehicles supplied by XXX”.
It started long before the 70’s. In most TV shows of the 50s and 60s, you only saw one brand of car used. The only time you’d see a different brand was if they had a shot along a public street where they had no control over what was parked there. (If it was a street on a set, you’d see only one brand of car, but from several different model years.)
A few sitcoms and the cars they used were:
Leave it to Beaver – Chrysler products, usually Plymouth
Beverly Hillbillies – Chrysler products
Andy Griffith – Ford products
Bewitched – Chevrolet (and occasionally other GM products)
My Three Sons – Pontiac
Mr Ed – Studebaker
Green Acres – Ford products
Frank Williams:
Many thanks for the correction, and the “memories”.
Milton Drysdale’s big-ass Chrysler convertible does spring back to mind, though the Studebakers in Mr. Ed are obscured by the fog bank in my mind.
P.S. Did anybody read the title as: “GM – NBC Product Placement Deal is Their Own Worst Emmy“?
Just me, I suppose. ;-)
I haven’t checked the credits. But Nissan products seem to appear far more than others in Desperate Housewives.
What these product placements do best is make a marketing executive feel like they’ve cut a big deal. When I was doing my research inside GM, one of the brand teams cut a deal for product placement in a movie. The brand manager got to attend the Hollywood premiere and associated party, and feel like one of the stars. But did the deal sell many cars?
As a HEROS fan, I grit my teeth at all Nissan’s in show adverts. First season, I had to listen to Hiro’s admiration for his Nissan Versa rental car. The second season was equally bad with Clair’s jumping up and down yelling, “Daddy, you got me a Nissan Rogue!!!” Blah. The Rouge was than stolen and driven across Mexico by another set of HEROS characters.
Knowing this I will be sooo happy when this show fails. The suits in hollywood just don’t seem to get it.
Back to youtube and the torrents for the true grit.
Now that this thread has gotten me all nostalgic, I wonder how many Chrysler cars were destroyed in the Blues Brothers movie(the original, not the sequel)?
And I seem to remember an episode of the A-Team where they were driving cabs in L.A. on a covert mission and a s— load were destroyed. Forgot the brand – maybe Chrysler.
Don’t get me started on the Dukes of Hazzard – I’ll admit one silly show but a helluva lotta fun! I think they went through at least 2-3 cars per episode, mostly old ’68-’69 Chargers.
shaker:
I am so stealing that. Headline amended.
Hawaii 5-0, Ford. Magic!
Not only was every car a Ford, but the episode “Death Wish on Tantalus Mountain” featured a push-button Pantera…
“Oddities
There were a few oddities such as opening the front lid from the passenger side and a mechanic who checks the steering wheel fluid level. The best one is the giant box wrench used by the bad guy to loosen the half shaft bolts and whack the mechanic over the head.
Others I have found so far:
– windshield wipers that appear and disappear
– shifting from third to forth to go up a step hill
– my favorite — a 9800 RPM redline (not a typo)
An interesting note: although the episode was originally shown on Sept 19, 1972 there was already a fair amount of surface rust in the engine bay particularly on the bolt heads. The black coating in the engine bay also looked pretty bad. I had assumed that un-restored engine bays looked bad these days due to the affects of age, but it looks like they were made that way.”
(from Mark McWhinney – DeTomaso Forum post)
Hawaii 5-0, Ford. Magic! Not only was every car a Ford, but the episode “Death Wish on Tantalus Mountain” featured a push-button Pantera… "There were a few oddities such as opening the front lid from the passenger side and a mechanic who checks the steering wheel fluid level. The best one is the giant box wrench used by the bad guy to loosen the half shaft bolts and whack the mechanic over the head. Others I have found so far: – windshield wipers that appear and disappear – shifting from third to forth to go up a step hill – my favorite — a 9800 RPM redline (not a typo) An interesting note: although the episode was originally shown on Sept 19, 1972 there was already a fair amount of surface rust in the engine bay particularly on the bolt heads. The black coating in the engine bay also looked pretty bad. I had assumed that un-restored engine bays looked bad these days due to the affects of age, but it looks like they were made that way.” (from Mark McWhinney – DeTomaso Forum post)
“will know something is up when NBC Top Gear give the latest GM product a glowing review and then spot, in the ad break, a succession of GM”
Yes, NBC should no longer accept any advertising dollars from any company that might be seen on TV. How about when Top Gear gives a positive review of a Toyota product? And then a Toyotathon commercial follows.
Skooter:
Top Gear is a taxpayer-funded TV program.
Skooter,
That was my point. On the BBC version of Top Gear, there are no adverts. Therefore, they can slate or praise any car they want without a withdrawal of money.
But on the NBC version, which has struck a lucrative deal with GM (hence, the point of this article), wouldn’t a few eyebrows be raised if the show praised a GM car (say, the Chevrolet Aveo), and then 2 minutes later, a load of GM adverts was shown…..?
That was the original point of my first post. Review shows on TV channels which gain their revenue from adverts are fundamentally flawed.
Skooter – if you get a chance, spend some time watching BBC Top Gear; while I don’t agree with many of the reviews, it’s always a laugh and Jezza does play the patriotism card really well, if the brand is/was British, or built in the UK (ie, new AM vehicles; a proper British GT!). He also really crushes Rover for their crap, with a nice chuckle about India “returning some favors”.
Great fun!
NBC Top Gear; I suppose I’ll watch it. Once. (or maybe a bit less).
Maybe Top Gear is fine with it…they’re giving back after spending years ragging on the POS Daewoo-Chevy they use for celebrity lap times.
Seriously though, I can’t believe…for the sake of integrity…that Top Gear would have relinquished so much control over it’s American cousin that they would allow this sort of garbage.
Sammy Hagar:
Seriously though, I can’t believe…for the sake of integrity…that Top Gear would have relinquished so much control over it’s American cousin that they would allow this sort of garbage.
Ye of little faith. Wait ’til you see the garbage before labeling as such. Unless you’re referring to the Beeb’s willingness to let the show be produced for an advertiser-fed TV network– with the inevitable compromises to follow– in the first place.
I’m trying to stay positive here…I usually don’t melt down into cynicism until after Memorial Day.
One thing that’s bothered me about Ami Top Gear though is the fact that most of the world’s cool cars have already been tested by Moose, Short stuff and Spacecase. Is the American version just going to be a Detroit-centric version, w/Callaway Corvettes vs. Saleen Mustangs vs. um, some Dodge product? Or are they going to actually race a Veyron vs. a Dreamliner, etc.? I’m so ready to be disappointed…especially if Adam Corolla (irony?) comes on board.
Mr Farago,
I think that is the point of the BBC’s decision to relinquish so much control to NBC.
Top Gear is one of the most downloaded shows on TV and is one the highest rated and viewed TV shows on UK TV.
However, the BBC don’t like it and the boys on Top Gear have regularly criticised the BBC for it. Whenever a sporting event like snooker or horseriding needs to be broadcast, the BBC will shift Top Gear’s slot or even eliminate it from the week’s viewing. The BBC have been, for ages, trying to destroy Top Gear.
I think it’s because it is such a dangerous and open-to-litigation show, that the BBC don’t like it.
When “Hamster” had his crash, the BBC were SO CLOSE to shutting the show down. So much so, Jeremy Clarkson wrote an article in a newspaper about it.
In the final season of Veronica Mars, she gets a Saturn to replace her old LeMans that she drove in highschool. Then again, that kinda’ fit in with the quirky humor of the show. (Veronica Mars living in Neptune, driving a Saturn.)
@KatiePuckrik:
Don’t forget the non-stop complaints from environmentalists, politicians and basically anyone who could be offended by what Jeremy Clarkson says. I bet people are still yelling at him about this legendary Vauxhall Vectra review.
EDIT-Oh, and I just read on Top and Fifth Gear fansite Final Gear that Top Gear’s next season has been postponed indefinitely…again! And the season will have only six episodes! Joy of joys!
Carshark,
6 episodes is about right for a UK show.
One of the best recent product placements was in the NBC show “Las Vegas.” There were skiers (?) staying at the Montecito driving three brand new Chevys in the beginning of the show. 15 or 30 minutes later they showed up again in their Chevys and the show literally morphed into a commercial for Chevy without any pause. As a TIVO watcher, I natch skip commercials. But I had no idea I was watching a commercial until it was almost over. I thought the show was still on. Frakkin brilliant!!!!
Anyone else catch this bit of marketing genius?
What NBC is making isn’t Top Gear, it’s their own soul-less knock-off of it.
I can’t wait until Jack Donaghy makes TGS place product in a Tracy Jordan gangsta sketch. Oh, that and at the end of the episode, Tina Fey’s character smiles while she drives away in a Chevy Volt with a Hillary ’08 bumper sticker on the back.
I think that most of the BBC Top Gear format is compatible with a market-financed show. Yes, some of the TG reviews are truly scathing (CityRover), but most are mixed. Even terrible cars get something nice said about them (BMW 1-series).
I think the kind of criticism they delivered in the RX-8 vs. Audi TT vs. Alfa Coupe comparison they did last summer is entirely compatible with American market-driven Television. Each car is essentially lobbied for by a different presenter, so you get the shots in there but it’s done in such a humorous way that I doubt Mazda, Audi, or Alfa would object.
I’ve been a BBC TG fan for years, and I agree with everyone here that American Top Gear won’t be as independent as the British version. But criticism is only one part of the reason for Top Gear’s success.
“We call it Fusion Marketing…”
I guess they will have to start calling it something else?
I seem to remember that Discovery Channel used to show the BBC’s Top Gear in the States, minus the “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” and other features that an American wouldn’t get/be interested in (although I like the SIARPC segments). This would have been in 2004 or so. I was hooked immediately.
The NBC version could never possibly measure up, because:
1. They can’t slag a car, even when it deserves it, because they might piss off advertisers (or potential advertisers!).
2. They have to watch their statements on everything else (immigration, “green” regulations, nanny states, global warming, etc) for the exact same reason. For advertisers, controversy is a bad thing.
3. GE (the parent of NBC) stands to gain a lot of money/business from the global warming hoax; can’t have one of the shows on their network telling people it isn’t so, even if that’s what the commentator truly believes. The honesty that you see on the BBC version, even if you don’t agree with what is said, is an important part of what makes Top Gear the great show that it is.
4. Even if they genuinely like a GM product (like the G8 V8, say), you can never be sure if they are saying so because it’s true or because it’s in their contract with GM.
5. Even if they genuinely don’t like a non-GM product, you can never be sure…(same reason).
6. The interplay between the hosts will be very difficult to duplicate. Jeremy, Richard, and James seem like they genuinely like and respect each other, and they perform very well both individually and together.
In short, I’m not hopeful. I’ll give it a shot, but they’ll really surprise me if it’s any good.
Car product placement is a tried and true way of getting the word out about your autos. Its been happnening for years!
Desparate Housewives is great for that. YOu will see a car debut at an autoshow and at about the same time someone on the Wives is driving it. Witness Susan Meyers in the latest Volvo XC70, Orson Hodge in the new C70 Convertible, Gabbie’s latest Aston, etc etc. NO car seems older than 4 years old (except for Mrs McCluskey’s 1989 LTD Crown Victoria).
ANd who could forget the Brady Bunch? Mike Brady always had some great big domestic convertible (depending on who sponsored it that year) and Mrs Brady always had the land yacht wagon, great for carrying the whole bunch, and Alice too. It was a pretty special episode when Greg got to borrow the convertible!
Have to be careful about which show you sponsor. I will NEVER EVER drive a Chrysler Sebring Conv(even used or as a rental) because Michael Scott drove one and I can’t help but think of him and laugh when I see one. I think he is in a PT Cruiser now, which sort of sums up the Chrysler situation.
@Katie Puckrik:
Top Gear has had seasons of as many as 10 or 11 episodes until Hamster’s crash. That was the only time a season lasted only 6 episodes.
Another example of product placement that I’ve seen is Honda on The Price is Right. Now, the popular daytime show hadn’t given away a foreign car since Desert Storm, thanks to a decree by host/executive producer/tyrant/sexual harasser/God in his own mind Bob Barker. Since he’s retired from the show now, the show has had two shows (LINK and LINK)
where Honda has provided them with cars, as opposed to individual dealers, which is the norm. In the plugs, they make sure to note that the cars are Made in America (especially Ohio, where newbie host Drew Carey is from) and the company is referred to as “American Honda Motor Company.” W’ever. I was tired of seeing people play for the same ol’ Cobalts and Focii and Calibers anyways.
Carshark,
No they didn’t. They had 6 episodes in series 7. 2 series BEFORE Hamster’s crash.