• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, January 10, 2005

ABC finally took the plunge with a major branded entertainment deal for one of its biggest shows. But it isn't desperate enough to make these deals a weekly occurrence.

During last night's "Desperate Housewives," Buick LaCrosse, a new model from the venerable General Motors line, was inserted into the show in a bit of product integration. A couple of traditional commercials were also part of that deal. Little to no TV business press coverage of the deal occurred before or after last's night episode.

Gabrielle, the desperate, well-kept housewife who now has a husband behind bars reluctantly returned to work as a shopping mall model, touting the new Buick LaCrosse. As she tried to hide from her neighbors who were shopping, her dress caught in the circular moving platform in which the car turned.

Buick ran two traditional spots in the show - commercials whose content had no relation to the in-show content. One spot showed an attractive African American woman model in different dresses moving elegantly from scene to scene to the tune of Aerosmith's "Dream On."

ABC advertising executives long let it be known it will not allow any TV producer on its network to do product integration deals with advertisers - unless those companies also buy commercial time in the show. From ABC's point of view, this sets a bad precedent. If a major advertiser such as Buick can only strike a deal in the content of a show with the producer, then it doesn't need to buy traditional TV commercial time from ABC.

ABC has a point - but it's a somewhat short-term view. It could be turning away business from future major TV network advertisers.

For example, NBC's "The Apprentice" allowed small companies this season, such as one gelato ice cream company, to do product integration deals without having to buy expensive network advertising time. A company of that size would typically never have a media plan that would include expensive advertising time.

In a time when digital video recorders threaten to reduce TV advertising coffers because consumers can fast-forward through commercials, ABC should encourage small companies to advertise in addition to striking deals with the major TV advertisers.