Cutting back one’s hours at work provides newfound opportunities. One is the opportunity to catch up on popular culture, and for my generation that usually has something to do with TV. So, just for the heck of it, these days I find myself occasionally watching daytime TV. What I have been most struck by is the extent to which content has become advertising on a number of shows.
Most of us already knew this trend was well in the works. What caught me up short is how indistinguishable the two have become. And how shameless this development is.
Wikipedia and others (as far back as 2002) have defined this phenomenon as “advertainment.” According to Wikipedia, it is a “marketing method based on the fusion between an advertising (commercial) message and an entertainment content (or format)… Advertainment’s main objective is to transform the advertising into something attractive and desirable instead of just interrupting people to sell something in 30 seconds.” (The interruption seems to apply less and less, except perhaps during the SuperBowl, which has long been known for its Oscar-level advertisements.)
netlingo.com, which styles itself the “Internet dictionary,” defines advertainment as a “term to describe media that advertises a product or brand while entertaining.”
And now the topic has become an academic discipline, meaning of course that it’s around to stay: The University of North Carolina offers a course on it.
Let me give a couple of examples of TV shows that feature this flavor of advertainment – one with value and one, to my way of thinking, without. The “Ellen” show, for example, hosted by comedienne Ellen Degeneres, typically invites a few entertainers, always including a singer or band, to perform on each show and chat it up with Ellen. Then, inevitably, Ellen provides all members of the studio audience with a copy of the relevant CD.
If you go to the show’s website (http://ellen.warnerbros.com/), this point is even more explicit. The day I visited, I founds items on how to buy copies of the show on DVD at Target, how Ellen and Tide (laundry detergent) were spreading “cheer” (hahaha) in New Orleans in the continuing aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, how to buy Ellen’s “tiny tongs” (whose price, oddly, had yet to be determined), how to see the full video of Ellen’s new AMEX commercial, and where to buy merchandise to become an unpaid walking advertisement for the show. Fully five of the 11 clickable items on the website were related to pushing product. Interestingly, bringing us full circle, the website also gives you a chance to comment on a favorite local commercial that airs in your town. Perhaps Ellen or her staff considers this potential grist for comedy routines in future shows?
One thing I was curious about was whether the commercials broadcast during the show coincided in any way with the products Ellen was pushing. Now that would be scarily premeditated.
iVillageLive.com, another example, is a rather bizarre new entry in the category of daytime-variety-show-cum-Internet-mediated-experience. It takes product pushing one step further. This show is hosted by a team of different genders, colors, and accents who variously do the interviewing, color commentary, and reporting from the Internet, joined by a guest host of some renown who spends most of the hour mugging for the camera.
They couch all this in the context of the Internet. Periodically, a bell rings, and attention shifts to the black woman with a British accent who sits to the side of the stage behind a laptop, reporting in about e-mail messages received commenting on show content and reminding the viewing audience what link, conveniently written to the show’s website, to find xyz product.
The show’s website in general is even less subtle than Ellen’s: A recent visit to the home page revealed ads by Priceline, Clinique, and even a link as brazen as “As Seen on IVillageLive.com.” If you go there, each item of content links to even more advertising (Overstock.com for holiday decorating ideas and GE for “trivection technology that revolutionizes cooking”). Links across the bottom of the page, such a “Beauty & Style,” “Health & Well-Being,” etc., lead you to Bacardi (I guess that fits the “Style” category) or Bose speakers (ditto) in the first case, and information on rheumatoid arthritis by Abbott Laboratories in the second. These change each time you click on them, so imagine the profusion of advertising you can be exposed to in just a matter of minutes. Bring on the lead jacket.
Admittedly my visit to iVillage was quick, but I didn’t turn up any indication of anything remotely resembling a public-service announcement (unlike Ellen’s website that provides links to her favorite charities at least). But of course such announcements don’t make money. You wonder if the show gets a kickback anytime someone follows their link to a product and buys it.
I figure that the blatant advertising during the shows accompanied by the more traditional “commercial breaks” provide enough income to produce these shows. Though I wonder why someone of Ellen’s long-standing talents has to resort to this. Is this the only way to get a show produced these days?
But who wants to watch these shows?
Personally, I love “Ellen.” She is kooky, kind hearted, and improvisationally hilarious. She involves average citizens by telephoning them on air, giving them a chance to participate in various ways (like directing the audio playlist for the show – is this a way to push CD sales?), and giving them the chance to be guests on her show. She seems to be having fun with people in a generous, almost retro kind of way. She just makes people feel good. And at least her monologues are advertising-free…
iVillageLive, on the other hand, is nearly content-free (unless you consider the advertising “content” worth tuning in for). It consists of too many people talking way too loudly and self-consciously without any manifest talent other than their youth and good looks. This show has taken what works and pushed it over the advertising edge. I predict it won’t last. I’m hoping we’ll insist on more true entertainment than helpful information on the newest anti-wrinkle cream to try.
At least…hmmm…I hope so… Unless consuming really is what it’s all about…