CBS & The CW: Green, Eggs, They Plan
Well, we're officially creeped out. As you may have heard by now, CBS today announced that its new show will be promoted via your breakfast plate - sort of.
As the New York Times noted today,
"The network plans to announce today that it will place laser imprints of its trademark eye insignia, as well as logos for some of its shows, on eggs - 35 million of them in September and October. CBS's copywriters are referring to the medium as "egg-vertising," hinting at the wordplay they have in store. Some of their planned slogans: "CSI" ("Crack the Case on CBS"); "The Amazing Race" ("Scramble to Win on CBS"); and "Shark" ("Hard-Boiled Drama."). Variations on the ad for its Monday night lineup of comedy shows include "Shelling Out Laughs," "Funny Side Up" and "Leave the Yolks to Us."...George Schweitzer, president of the CBS marketing group, said he was hoping to generate some laughter in American kitchens. "It's a great way to reach people in an unexpected form."
And by "a great way to reach people in an unexpected form," we assume he means "totally disturbing."
We'd heard Fox was planning a similar ad campaign - one which involved tattooing the network's entire fall schedule onto the breasts of some 40 million chickens - but thankfully, America's poultry farmers were reluctant to let Fox into the henhouse.
(Rim shot, please.)
Simulataneously, the CW's new marketing tactic appears to be the use of an emerald green logo strong enough to give you a retinal burn, a move designed, perhaps, to distract from the fact the no one seems to know on which channel the CW actually is in their given market.
To sum up, given a choice between a network that may cause night blindness and one that tattoos unborn fowl, we'll stick with playing "Halo 2."