- Posted 8/6/08 at 11:23 AM
- branding, entertainment
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OMG! Gossip Girls… "Nasty"
Surprise, surprise. CW gets slapped for hitting below the belt with its “nasty” advertising. Again.
“It really reeks of desperation,” said Melissa Henson, director of communications and public education for the group. The network’s decision to “position the show in opposition to the Parents Television Council speaks both to the trouble they’ve had attracting a decent-sized audience for the program and the fact that they have had to sort of cling to an image of this show as being raunchy, salacious and envelope-pushing in order to lure viewers.”
But BG asks: does the campaign reek of desperation or unfiltered brilliance?
I have to admit that I’ve seen very little of Gossip Girls, but enough to deem it more mindless than mind-blowing. Yet one thing is certain — the folks over at CW know how to market – and get your goat. Unfiltered brilliance I tell you. CW’s marketing boss Rick Haskins and his team have leveraged all assets of the show – both good and bad – to garner boatloads of attention for their fledging tv channel as they battle against online and mobile viewing. Never mind create dialogue that truly sticks with its finicky 18-34 demographic. At the end of the “marketing” day — when you can get the attention of “everyone” — then it’s a job well done.
Indeed troubling though are the trends and uber-advancements of our youth. (What happen to Little House on the Prairie? Where the hell is Nancy Drew?) Perhaps the “content” of the shows targeted at teens (i.e., the The Hills, Laguana, Gossip Girls, etc.) show be explored more closely. After all, why is it that the guys (always after a series of sleazy moves) get to ride off a hero, leaving the gal behind smarting (and forgiving), yet still hopeful for some white knight to save her day? Great logline, bad morales. Sexism I tell you. But that’s another story and for the rant of another.
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I totally agree. And nothing wrong about being patriotic.
Great insights…I don’t think the audience cares who wins the awards, they just want to see the “show” so they have something to talk about the next day…and BTW- the Chrysler commercial was my favorite! Anything that promotes America building something again is ok with me…I guess I’m just a sucker for patriotism…
Nice article! It makes a great deal of sense. These companies spend so much to attain new clients but rarely put forth the effort to keep their existing ones happy. Everything is an argument or an angle. I guess they think we will forget.
I ask this lovingly Steve: by any chance, are you wearing a tie and nursing a martini?
Looking at Obama’s overall rising star these past years (and especially thinking back to who even knew his name prior to 2004), he is a media genius indeed. Yet at the same time, just as he’s not a Muslim (although 24% of the public still thinks he is), he’s also not the political Messiah his campaign painted him to be. In offering an opinion about this widening disparity between the myth and the man, which any Brand Girl is entitled to do, I simply pointed out some of his media missteps since taking office. Speculating that Obama might be a one-term prez unless he gets his media act and his policy act together—and playing nice with one another—is no more a diss than thinking Derek Jeter was playing kinda dirty when he faked getting hit by a pitch to get on base. That’s not dissing, and it’s not even playing party politics. It’s just stating the obvious.
And ’cause I can’t resist: when out with a girl, especially a bipartisan one, allow her a chance to take a full swing when at bat in a pennant battle of the minds. I’ll bet the house that she’ll get beyond first. And she won’t have to fake a thing either.
Funny piece but a faulty premise.
Obama is still a media genius. He’s controlling the debate and has accomplished more in his first two years than any President since FDR. Sure his approval numbers are down but we are in a the middle of a severe recession. Regan’s numbers were similar in 1982.
He has tried to be bipartisan but what does he get for it? The GOP even filibustered small business tax cuts (until two GOP senators who are retiring broke off yesterday). The public knows this. While they are anti-incumbent, they trust the GOP less than the Dems. And despite the GOP’s concerted efforts to block efforts to stimulate the economy (so they can hope to pick up more seats), the economy will turn around and the the POTUS’s appoval ratings wil improve with the rise in GDP.
And when out with boys, especially thoughtful ones, it’s probably not a good idea to diss Obama; not if you want to get to first base.