In they heyday of radio and the early live days of television, commercials were often integrated right into the script or read by the hosts, even the occasional star who stepped out of his or her role for a moment in order to hawk cigarettes. Bob Hope name- checked his sponsor, Pepsodent, with a different joke every broadcast. In recent years, the practice has returned to talk radio, with hosts sliding into a live read spot mid- monologue.
It’s not quite as noticeable, but with the arrival of DVR and Internet downloads, more and more television shows have begun interweaving content with bill- paying. This goes beyond a character in a sitcom brandishing a can of Coke label-out; we now have programs which actually include sets within the context of a sponsor. Three characters from Men of a Certain Age, for example, work at a car dealership–why not make it a Chevy one and show off the 2011 Corvette every now and then?
The key here is that the integration is smoothly accomplished on Men of a Certain Age–the bow to the sponsor isn’t an obvious step out of the world of the show; in fact, it lends realism to the idea that these real guys actually work at a real dealership. More obnoxiously, we’ve endured cross-episode promotions which shoehorn the sponsor into dialogue rather than organically making it part of the show environment (“It’s the Cadillac of sell-outs!”)
The grand prize for insufferable non-promotional promotions, however, goes to ABC, which in the ’90′s forced each of its major sitcom casts on a trip to Disney World in the wake of its Disney merger. All we gained from that, fittingly, was the pregnancy of Darlene Conner.
So– careful. You may think you’re watching the cast of Parenthood unload some boxes of Clorox wipes from the back of the pickup truck, but what you’re actually getting is what we used to call “a bathroom break.” Enjoy.
