Branded and sponsored entertainment is not a new concept, but now major consumer product marketers are beginning to embrace it like never before, investing serious money commissioning shows to appear
on multiple media outlets. The list is long and growing. It includes Coca-Cola, Ford Motor, General Motors, JetBlue Airways, Meow Mix, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. The goals and benefits
are easy to understand: the marketer wants to capture the attention of consumers who are easily distracted and, more often than not, tune out traditional advertising. Sponsored programs allow them to
break through the clutter of multiple choices and weave product messages into story lines. "This allows the brand to be the star of the show by delivering the show," said Stuart McLean, co-president
at JWTwo Entertainment, a division of JWT that is working with the comedian Paul Reiser to produce a series of short programs, resembling sitcom episodes, sponsored by a Unilever line of hair care
products, Sunsilk. The series, tentatively titled "Sunsilk Presents Max and Katie," will start in September with what is scheduled to be a 13-week run on the TBS cable network. Plans call for
two-minute mini-episodes that will offer a humorous look at the hectic life of a 20-something woman--not coincidentally, the target audience.
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