Product vs. ads

So I watched the first episode of In Plain Sight on Hulu.

USA is carving out a decent niche with its entertaining hour-long crime shows. This one is a bit like a female version of Burn Notice -- emotionally damaged, cynic-with-heart-of-gold protagonist offering wry voice-over narration with the case of the week serving more as background for longer character arcs, etc. Add those two shows to the quirky whodunits Monk and Psych and they've got a respectable lineup that, thanks to the more modest ratings expectations of basic cable, isn't going to leave viewers hanging due to abrupt cancellation.

Anyway, I wanted to see at least the first episode of this show to find out which of the USA Network's contradictory ad campaigns for it was more accurate. I've been seeing the network's nonstop promos for In Plain Sight for months (my fiancee* is a Criminal Intent addict). A few weeks back, those promos abruptly changed. They switched from portraying Mary McCormack's character as a sassy action girl (the great-at-her-job, bad-at-her-life bit) to portraying her as a nurturing surrogate mother to the people in her charge as a U.S. marshal in the witness protection program.

The new spots seemed like they were promoting an entirely different, and incompatible, show. In the new promos, In Plain Sight looked like Touched by a Marshal. Or like Judging Amy, if Tyne Daly had been packing heat. My guess is the more sentimental promos were some kind of attempt to make the show more appealing to some sought-after female demographic. (But that's just a guess -- I don't pretend to understand the thoughts or motives of TV executives and programming directors.)

Now that I've seen the show, it seems to me that the reinvented, mother-Mary promos were pure spin. The show was very much like what the original promos portrayed and not at all like the sentimental fare being marketed in recent weeks. This seems to me to be a Good Thing, since the latter imaginary show really didn't seem all that appealing, whereas the actual show is quite fun (see this review from Alan Sepinwall).

The odd thing about all this was the attempt to retool the marketing for the show without retooling the actual show. I mean, I'm glad they didn't retool the show, but it seems strange to think you could advertise something different while offering the same product. The hypothetical viewers that USA hoped to reach with its re-edited, nurturing promos presumably weren't responding positively to the original, more accurate promos, so USA changed the ads in the hopes of persuading them to watch the show. But it's still the same show.

If these viewers didn't like the original promos, then the odds are they won't like the show itself either. I guess the idea is to trick them into watching the show in the hopes that once they tune in, they'll like it despite themselves. But I'm not sure that this bait-and-switch tactic is the best way to go about trying to expand your audience.

And but so anyway, my point here isn't really about In Plain Sight, but rather about presidential candidates.

Selling a candidate is, in some ways, a lot easier than selling a new TV show. The USA Network has to do more than trick viewers into pulling a lever or checking a box. They can saturate their airwaves (cable-wires?) with ads that spin their show any way they like, but that's not going to keep viewers tuning in to a show that turns out to be nothing like the one they're selling. Those viewers will sit through half the show, realize it doesn't resemble the advertised product, and -- click -- they'll go back to watching The Ghost Whisperer instead.

Political campaigns don't have to worry about that. They don't have to worry about whether their actual candidates correspond in any way to the re-edited, re-imagined candidates their ads are selling. Voters, unlike viewers, don't need to be tricked every week, they only need to be tricked once every four years. Political campaigns can advertise anything at all -- "compassionate conservative," "fiscal responsibility," "national security," "we do not torture" -- and they only have to worry about maintaining the ruse up through election day. Once voters leave the booth they've bought the product and they're stuck with it for the next four years.

One more reason that selling a candidate is easier than selling a TV show: No reviews. Here's metacritic's page for In Plain Sight. You could watch a year's worth of the Sunday morning political talk shows and everything that cable news has to offer by way of campaign coverage and you'd rarely encounter the degree of thoughtful, skeptical scrutiny that even a summer-fill-in show on basic cable faces from TV critics.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

* Yep. Unless, of course, she gets a better offer from Vince D'Onofrio.

Comments

[Boze]

Congratulations on having a fiancee!

[Sarah]

I second the congratulations!

[Roadrunner]

Awwww!

[Amaryllis]

Ha! We knew something was up!

Congratulations!

"There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage." - Martin Luther
And he should know. And so we wish for you.

[Ryan]

That reminds me of Oscar Guy's review of the Nim's Island trailers. I don't know if I agree that they portray different plots, but they do seem to have chosen different main characters.

[hapax]

Well, since someone brought up Chloe's study of Renaissance poetry in the last LB thread, I'll just quote Dante:

"The love of God, unutterable and perfect,
Flows into a pure soul the way that light
Rushes into a transparent object.
The more love that it finds, the more it gives
Itself; so that, as we grow clear and open
The more complete the joy of loving is.
And the more souls who resonate together,
The greater the intensity of their love,
For, mirror-like, each soul reflects the others."

Congratulations and best wishes.

[JessicaR]

Rock on, good sir! And if we are sharing poems let me travel to my beloved acient Egypt...

I think I'll go home and lie very still,
feigning terminal illness.
Then the neighbors will all troop over to stare,
my love, perhaps, among them.
How she'll smile while the specialists
Snarl in their teeth! --

She perfectly well knows what ails me.

This to me is the playful love I hope I will one day be lucky enough to know. Not the tragic beating of the breast over gothic excesses but the sly smiles and winks that only two in love can share. And by doing so express an entire conversation without saying a word.

[Steve]

Congratulations, Fred.

"Familiarity breeds contempt - and children."
- Mark Twain

[pepperjackcandy]

Congratulations!

Unfortunately, my favorite poet is Dorothy Parker. Not much use for this occasion, I'm afraid.

[dr ngo]

Unfortunately (?) the second episode of IPS, which I just saw, veers over toward the "nurturing" theme, leading me to suspect that the change in advertising reflects a change in emphasis - without, you know, going back and reshooting the pilot.

Might work, might not. Anyone interested in historical/cultural comparisons may wish to look at the evolution of "M*A*S*H" during its first season. It began much closer to the dark, almost misanthropic, tone of the film than the lovefest it later became. This shift, IMHO, led to the huge success of the show, because people would not have been comfortable "inviting into their living rooms" year after year the original characters.

[dr ngo]

And lest I be a slackard in commending your engagement, one by e.e. cummings:

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

[Ecks]

Welcome to the club mr. fred! Congratulations, connubial bliss is yours for the X, where X falls between, but does not include, "fanciful future imaginings" and "absolute iron clad certainty." Here's hoping for closer to the latter :)

[Caravelle]

Congratulations Fred !

As far as reviews go, aren't there sites that dissect candidates' policy positions ? I guess it's different to do in a non-partisan way but I seem to remember something mentioned from the last election.
Or maybe it's just factcheck.org.

Political campaigns can advertise anything at all -- "compassionate conservative," "fiscal responsibility," "national security," "we do not torture" -- and they only have to worry about maintaining the ruse up through election day.

"I hate war"...

[Nicole J. LeBoeuf-Little]

I love e.e. cummings. Such beautiful love poetry.

--
(i do not know what it is about you that closes and opens;
only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands
--

Congrats, Fred and fiancee.

[jamoche]

My guess is the more sentimental promos were some kind of attempt to make the show more appealing to some sought-after female demographic.

Not that sought-after; USA sibling SciFi canned The Dresden Files despite its high ratings in that demographic - higher even than some of its other shows. Networks really don't seem to have any grasp of what women want. Neither, it seems, do politicians. Hint to both of them - it's not always Lifetime.

[Praline]

Congratulations! Wishing you both a long and wonderful marriage. :-)

[Ray]

Congratulations!

[Ray]

Congratulations!

[Duncan]

Congrats Fred!

[Nenya]

Congratulations! May you rejoice in each other's company for a long and glorious while.

Ha! We knew something was up!

Ah, so it wasn't just me who speculated that belated LB Fridays might be related to increase in domestic happiness? Labouring through the Worst Books in the World or nights in with the future spouse--what a choice!

This goes nicely with Seedling's promised advent as a wonderful 2008 event!

[Nenya]

Fred's fiancée needs a Slacktivist nickname, you know. Are flower names still the in thing here? (Not that we discuss Fred's personal life here, besides l'affaire Scott. But it will seem odd to merely refer to her as "Fred's fiancée".)

[MikhailBorg]

Fred, that is wonderful, and I wish you both every possible happiness!

[damnedyankee]

Congrats, Fred! Fear not, we shall keep Vincent D'Onofrio from your door, even if we have to use big, pointy sticks!

Political campaigns can advertise anything at all -- "compassionate conservative," "fiscal responsibility," "national security," "we do not torture" -- and they only have to worry about maintaining the ruse up through election day.

Oo! Oo! I've got one! How about "I'm the pro-war guy who hates war"? That one's good for a belly laugh...

[J]

The Onion already picked up this theme with their usual sharp insight disguised as silly humor:

Movie Marketed As Six Different Genres.

[Hawker Hurricane]

"Chickification

So you have an Action Girl. She rocks. There's only one problem: she's also the only female in the main cast, and you don't have a Non Action Guy or other similar balancing factor to counterbalance this. Where are you going to get your Designated Victim for the team to save every episode? What's an executive to do?... Slowly turn the Action Girl into The Chick, of course! Completely replace her tough image and capabilities with something more fitting to the Distressed Damsel you need."
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Chickification

Just so happens I was just reading this... I'm trying to avoid the worst tropes in my own writing.

Of course, your essay was about false advertising (bait and switch) irt politics, not about how Hollywierd treats female characters.

Oh, and congradulations.
"If I were to marry, it would be suddenly, as a man commits suicide." H.L. Mencken, journalist and misanthrope

[J]

Speaking of weird, unreflective trailers for things, 20th Century Fox clearly wasn't sure what to do with the brainy, understated Solaris, so they released this trailer, clearly trying to spin it as Aliens, with lots of shouting and running along catwalks.

This so annoyed some fellow Stanislaw Lem fans of mine that they made up this re-cut trailer for it, better reflecting the calm tone.

I'm hoping the future Mrs. Slacktivist will view Left Behind Fridays as an important domestic chore and make sure it's done on time for the good of all as only a spouse can. Oh, and I hope Fred's happy, too.

[J]

Yeah, dude, congratulations. Now c'mon and be the first couple in America with a registry consisting entirely of DVD boxed sets.

[Lila]

Congratulations to you both!

She's all states, and all princes I;
Nothing else is;
Princes do but play us; compared to this,
All honour's mimic, all wealth alchemy. --John Donne, "The Sun Rising"

[Jack Grey]

More congrats!

(...But no poetry. I could try singing, if you want...?)

[cjmr]

Fred and the lovely soon-to-be Mrs. Fred (unless she chooses to keep her own name),

Congratulations!

-----
@every one else,

So shouldn't we throw them an e-shower or e-reception or something?

[Chris]

Congratulations, Fred! It's been some years now, but I will never forget the breathless moment when my now-husband popped the question. Here's to many happy decades.

@J: It's funny, the trailer I saw for "Solaris" (I assume you're talking about the new film) made it look like a romance. I haven't actually read the book, but from what little I know of it, it shouldn't be *either*...

[Lila]

Waitwaitwait. I got yer singing right here.

These kids and their international youtube collaborations. Hey you kids!! Get back on my lawn and play another one!!

[Jim]

Congrats, Fred.

Networks really don't seem to have any grasp of what women want. Neither, it seems, do politicians. Hint to both of them - it's not always Lifetime.

Oh, you mean "women in peril" doesn't have universal female appeal. Who'd a-thunk it?

[MikhailBorg]

the great-at-her-job, bad-at-her-life bit

Hmm. I wonder if you'd get much drama, or audience sympathy, from "problems-with-her-job, great-at-her-life".

Knowing me, I probably still wouldn't watch it unless it was "good-at-her-life-and-her-job, until the invasion force of Greys arrived". It's on USA, though, so it would be either painful to watch or get cancelled after half a season.

[malpollyon]

Congratulations!

[Izzy]

Congratulations!

And I am now interested in this show. Pity about my lack of cable. (Quick question: the "emotionally damaged" bit doesn't involve her being Trauma Girl, right? Or the "all men are commitmentphobes blah blah" Carrie Bradshaw archetype? Because I would *dearly* love to see a "feisty" heroine that doesn't fall into one role or the other.)

[alsafi]

Congratulations!

[kodiak]

A hearty congrats to you both! And in the spirit of the thread:

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
- W. Shakespear (Sonnet 116)

[Tonio]

I can think of two movies that had misleading advertising: "Something Wild" and "Pleasantville."

[Caravelle]

Speaking of weird, unreflective trailers for things, 20th Century Fox clearly wasn't sure what to do with the brainy, understated Solaris, so they released this trailer, clearly trying to spin it as Aliens, with lots of shouting and running along catwalks.

This so annoyed some fellow Stanislaw Lem fans of mine that they made up this re-cut trailer for it, better reflecting the calm tone.

Wow, the second trailer made me really want to see the film. It's much more intriguing... The first one is "meh, action SF film with George Clooney". And that's considering I did see the film, and didn't like it very much (I adored the book though. But what nut would want to make a movie out of it ? Besides, both this and Tartovsky's film completely failed to convey the awesomeness of Solaris the planet. In my opinion.).

@Tonio : I've just watched a trailer for Pleasantville on Youtube (the first one on the "pleasantville" search) and it doesn't seem very misleading to me at all... Was there a different one, or do I remember the movie wrong ?

[Caravelle]

Oh by the way Praline, I have finally succumbed to popular pressure and ordered your book ! I'd like to have done it in a physical bookstore so they'd realise there's demand and maybe stock it, but it turned out to be a lot cheaper through Amazon. Who knows, maybe having been asked about it twice will make WHSmith take the hint ^^
(though maybe I should read the book before beginning to promote it like crazy...)

[Tonio]

I've just watched a trailer for Pleasantville on Youtube (the first one on the "pleasantville" search) and it doesn't seem very misleading to me at all...

I remember the TV ads touting the movie as being in the spirit of the old 1950s family comedies. I never saw the theatrical trailer.

[noyatin]

Congratulations to you both.

[Spherical Time]

Awesome! Congrats!

You know, until a few months ago, I thought you were middle aged or slightly older and therefore assumed that you were already married.

[RP]

Mazel tov!

[cjmr's husband]

Felicitations: Fred, Fiancee!

(Hmm... Slacktiviancee? Slacktibride? Slactiviola? Slacktivixen?)

[zmayhem]

Congratulations, Fred! Gossip has it that D'Onofrio is kind of a pill in real life, so your fiancée is better off sticking with you even if he does come nosing around.

My Cummings contribution:

love is more thicker than forget
more thinner than recall
more seldom than a wave is wet
more frequent than to fail

it is most mad and moonly
and less it shall unbe
than all the sea which only
is deeper than the sea

love is less always than to win
less never than alive
less bigger than the least begin
less littler than forgive

it is more sane and sunly
and more it cannot die
than all the sky which only
is higher than the sky

(And if your vast collection isn't already providing enough music to score your wedding and at least four vow renewals in the decades ahead, here's a gorgeous a cappella version by The Story.

[Caravelle]

I was going to unoriginally suggest "Slacktivista", but "Slacktivixen" gets my vote !

[cjmr]

You know, until a few months ago, I thought you were middle aged or slightly older...

Where does middle-aged start these days? I've been assuming I've been middle-aged for a few years now, and Fred is somewhere within five years of my age.