• Adweek, Thursday, February 9, 2006 11:46 AM

In another example of a marketer turning to the Web for marketing help, General Mills has launched a new site offering short films to promote its Progresso line of soups to women at work. Nine short films, called "soup operas," are available at the site, www.homesweetcube.com, which chronicle the professional lives of six different characters. Each film runs about two minutes and allows viewers to stay with one story line or jump to another. General Mills is opting for a soft-sell approach with the films; the soups are featured in the introduction to the episodes, but they do not figure in the content. The company hopes the films click with an at-work women's audience. It is aiming for tune-ins during lunch hours that would make them the modern day equivalent of the soap opera, created on radio in the 1920s to hawk laundry and cleaning products to stay-at-home mothers. There is also a promotional tie-in. Progresso is running a sweepstakes for users to submit photos of their cubicles. The one deemed "the homiest" wins a $750 prize.

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