Advertise Different: Nip/Tuck Premiere Episode 2006

The other night I watched the first episode of season 4 of Nip/Tuck. Content of the show aside, I wanted to discuss how F/X presented the show semi-commercial free. Normally the show is presented with the normal commercial interruptions between each segment. This time around the show was presented as a 1.5 hour premiere sponsored solely by Sony Pictures. This meant that instead of breaking for a commercial – a different preview for one of the upcoming Sony Pictures movies was displayed. It was basically like seeing previews in a theater because they were the long version for each film, and included movies that I did not know were coming out yet.

The net result of this move is that I watched every single preview (read: paid ad placement by Sony) I think this method of sponsorship is highly effective.

Some of the previews included; Running with Scissors, Stranger than Fiction, and The Persuit of Happiness.

Usually I find multiple programs to watch and record then switch between them to avoid commercials but this time I watched all the way through. It honestly was one of the better ways I have seen a premiere episode or regular non-cable show presented in awhile.

In researching this article it turns out they did this last year too.

This makes this weeks winner in my advertise different category – and hopefully we will see more of this in the future.

Would you prefer one sponsor per show instead of multiple 30 second spots?

[tags] nip/tuck, FX, sony pictures, sony, the persuit of happiness, running with scissors, Stranger than Fiction, marketing.fm, advertising, marketing [/tags]