• by Les Luchter , April 17, 2024

“This is genius. Honestly the marketing team needs a raise.”

That’s just a sample of the social media raves that came rolling in Monday for what, at first glance, could appear to be a preposterous partnership: the teaming of Netflix’s “Bridgerton,” set some 200 years ago during Britain’s Regency Era, with Haleon’s Flonase, a modern approach to fighting allergies.

But, as a video posted by series producer Shondaland progresses, the connection makes more and more sense.

“Spring is in bloom with Miss Penelope Featherington and Mr. Colin Bridgerton stepping into the spotlight,” intones a voiceover by gossipmonger Lady Whistledown, alluding to the storyline of season 3 that debuts May 13.

Meanwhile, a “Bridgerton”-attired couple is shown leading a promenade through a garden. The woman picks a flower, sniffs it, and the two potential lovebirds are struck with “sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes.”

So they head to “a new apothecary in town,” where the proprietress starts mixing ingredients “”to create the perfect remedy.”  But, alas, says Lady Whistledown, “patience is a virtue…and this remedy should be ready in about 200 years.”

Cut to Flonase graphic.

Beyond that video, the partnership is having fun with Penelope and Colin having become “Polin” in Internet talk. So, while pollen season is starting in Flonaseland, “Polin” season is starting in Shondaland.

Another video points out that the couple “are not the only ‘Polin’ in the ton.’

Tish Tillie, Flonase brand director, credits Shondaland for getting the ball rolling on the campaign.

“They saw the play on words of Polin and pollen,” she tells Marketing Daily. “Then the talent agency for Shondaland, CAA, reached out to our CMO Katie Williams.”

The creative was driven by Shondaland and CAA, with Flonase and its agency Publicis making sure “the brand’s feature was authentically prominent,” Tillie says. “The idea was for the creative to look and feel like a ‘Bridgerton’ episode, with a funny twist to feature Flonase.”

Indeed, while nobody in the video’s cast has actually appeared on “Bridgerton” itself, the costuming is dead-on and both its street shots and apothecary scene were filmed on the “Bridgerton” set.

The Flonasecampaign is a “perfect, unexpected collaboration,” Chris Diiorio, Shondaland chief marketing officer, said in a statement.