Television show or commercial in disguise?
If the television writers hadn’t just gone on strike last year, I’d say they definitely should following this announcement from NBC Universal. NBC’s new Digital Studio, which is creating shows to appear exclusively online on sites like Hulu, has teamed with an advertising company to create two new shows for this summer. Omnicom Group has already signed up companies like Intel, Cisco, and Microsoft to sponsor the show, but they’re not just airing short commercials in between scenes, running pre-roll ads, or even placing banners alongside the rolling video; the marketing is much more subversive than that.
These companies will, in fact, be involved in the show’s creation from the beginning. They’ll have input into casting, storylines, and (most importantly) product placement. As someone who covers the marketing space for a living, this story piques my interest. As a writer and someone who enjoys watching television, it makes me cringe. Yes, I understand that NBC has to be more creative in what they offer advertisers because viewers don’t have to watch ads when they DVR a show or buy the DVD version. But this is too much. Didn’t anyone learn from the failed Caveman show that was based on Geico commercials?
Imagine for a minute that you’re the writer who pitched NBC on the show “Gemini Division,” one of the two that will be part of this new marketing strategy. You spent months on character development, plot arcs, and dialogue for a pilot. Now, your show has fallen victim to what Omnicom Digital CEO Matt Spiegal told MSNBC is “a unique way of giving brands a seat at the table with writers and producers in developing episodic programming that ties directly to brand needs.” You’d probably start looking for a new career. Sticking around would be like selling your soul.
There’s already too much product placement on TV (see Coca-Cola’s cups on American Idol, the shameless promotion of Subway and Extra gum on The Biggest Loser, the dozens of Sears mentions during Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, or just about any show on MTV). 
Generally such blatant promotion happens in reality television, and that’s in addition to the 15+ minutes per hour that are traditional commercials. It's not unreasonable to think one day we'll see scenes like the one in The Truman Show when Truman's wife turns to the camera and talks about how great the items she just bought are.
I’ll reserve harsher judgment until after I see the shows, but I think NBC may be crossing a line here. Consumers will put up with some advertising for the benefit of entertainment, but this may be too much. What do you think? Is online programming such a financial risk that NBC has to sell out the creative rights? How much product placement does it take before an episode becomes an infomercial? Will people tune in?
