BBC America Robin Hood Season 2: As part of its
marketing campaign for the second season of Robin Hood,
BBC America dispatched its own band of merry men to
perform good deeds on the streets of Philadelphia.
Cartoon Network/Turner Broadcasting for Turkey,
Stuffing and ‘Rickrolls’ for all our Friends at
Thanksgiving: Tapping into the popular Internet meme
“Rickrolling,” Cartoon network snagged Rick Astley for a
surprise performance on the Foster’s Home for Imaginary
Friends oat at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Outdoor Channel for Are You Ready for the
Big Time? CTAM Stunt: To promote its rst scripted
series, Outdoor Channel sponsored a snack break at
last year’s CTAM Summit featuring the stars of its new
mockumentary show Jimmy Big Time.
Starz Entertainment for I Know Who Killed Me:
Talk about toxic assets—Starz owned cable rights to the
singularly awful Lindsay Lohan ick I Know Who Killed Me.
Nonplussed, Starz marketed it to the hilt, emphasizing
scathing reviews and its multiple awards as one of the
worst lms of ’08. Columnists and bloggers took the bait,
and Starz continues to get press hits for this lemonade-from-lemons stunt.
Oxygen for Welcome Home! Tori & Dean: Oxygen
rolled out red carpets at be-seen spots in Los Angeles, allowing patrons to join in welcoming home Tori and Dean for
the third season of their show, whose premiere was the
most-watched season debut on Oxygen.
Winner: A&E and NMA Entertainment
& Marketing for The Andromeda Strain
Decontamination Chamber
It’s not easy competing against the opening weekend of the fourth
installment in the Indiana Jones saga. That’s why A&E worked with
NMA to develop a “decontamination chamber” for its miniseries The Andromeda Strain, pitching the tent at major events like
Comic-Con and the Kentucky Derby that collectively drew nearly
3 million attendees. More than 450,000 visited the chamber, where
“lab workers” in hazmat suits escorted “guests” into the pitch-black
area and showed them the series trailer. A&E said more than 95%
of chamber visitors said they’d watch the show, which became one
of the network’s highest-rated programs.
♣
fast fact:
\ To maintain the conceit, A&E provided branded
hand sanitizer samplers to consumers (above center).
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Discovery, Science Channel and Comcast
for Science Matters! The three partners developed a curriculum and contest to make science
more relevant and entertaining for middle schoolers.
Insight for Digital Transition Awareness
Campaign: The key to helping consumers prepare
for the digital transition has been communication,
evidenced by Insight”s efforts to educate community
leaders and journalists about the switch-over.
Lifetime Television for Every Woman Counts:
The network’s Every Woman Counts campaign was
designed not only to encourage women to vote but Winner: IFC for
T he IFC Media Project
I FC”s mission with its six-part
document ary series The IFC Media Project was to
r aisethe public”s media literacy. To help
viewers become more mediasavvy, the
network conducted town hall meetings
in Philadelphia and Boston, with experts
also to inspire them to run for of ce. like Dan Rather and Tucker Carlson as panelists. Discussion
The Sportsman Channel for Hunt. Fish. Feed.: centered on understanding the purpose of media’s mes-
To help those in need in New Orleans, TSC spearheaded sages, techniques to attract attention and what gets edited.
a local event to serve venison chili to the city’s homeless. IFC followed that by launching a Web site ( www.ifc.com/
WE tv for WE Vote 2008: WE linked up with celebrities mediaproject) with tips on how individuals can become more
to help bring women to the polls through an interactive Web critical consumers of media. ♣
site and social media outreach on Facebook and Twitter.
Retirement Living TV for Countdown to Conversion:
Digital Transition Education Initiative: RLTV leaned
on Mrs. Brady, aka Florence Henderson, to help prepare
the 50+ demo for the digital transition.
fast fact:
\ IFC partnered with top-tier media research groups such
as National Association for Media Literary Education,
the Aspen Institute and the Comparative Media studies
program at MIT.
