Commentary

Brandtique: Revlon, 'The Closer'

It's hardly a surprise that TNT's hit drama "The Closer"--solid enough to be a smash on broadcast where it could double its audience--has become a product placement hub. This spring at an upfront event, Turner executives made it very clear that branded entertainment--sponsorships of commercial-free premieres as well as interstitials during ad breaks, plus product insertion opportunities and other tactics--would be a major part of their sales operations going forward. They just about hung out a sign saying "Insert Your Brand Here."

And advertisers seem eager to do so on "The Closer."

On the June 25 episode, star Kyra Sedgwick (who plays Brenda Johnson, the crack investigator at the LAPD who has a knack for nabbing elusive criminals) snacks on a small bag of Keebler's Chips Deluxe. A week later, Sedgwick's character sits in front of a mirror and struggles with which shade of Revlon lipstick to wear.

But give Turner credit for not allowing advertisers to just toss their products in scenes willy nilly. It's clear that executives have spent considerable time combing scripts and searching for those opportunities where products naturally fit, not wanting to over-commercialize such a high-quality drama.

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Take the Keebler integration. In the scene, Sedgwick (Johnson) holds a small bag of the cookies and munches on them during a frustrating phone call. But it's not just a case of Turner realizing she'd have a free hand while holding the phone and dropping the snack bag into it.

Instead, the Keebler craving dovetails with Sedgwick's character. A minor sub-plot (sort of comic relief) in the series is the high-strung Johnson's battle to curb her sweet tooth. She's banned sweets from the office, but can't quit them, looking for a sugar high in stressful situations. In her desk drawer, she keeps a stash of snacks and repeatedly and surreptitiously reaches in for the comfort food. It's a well-known character trait of Johnson's to regular viewers, so her turning to the Keebler cookies is an organic fit. (Turner could sell her weekly "Sweet Grab" to a different advertiser each episode from Hershey's to Entenmann's to Kraft's Oreos.)

Then on July 2, the Revlon appearance (one of the top product placements of the week, according to measurement firm iTVX) once again has a link to Sedgwick's character. Relentlessly focused on her career, Johnson is described as "scatterbrained and disorganized." And that's clear in the scene where she spends half an hour trying on various shades of Revlon, but can't decide which way to go.

At one point, she turns to her boyfriend and says: "What do you think of this one?" Dripping with sarcasm, he responds: "Oh, that's the best one yet. What color is it?" "Reddish-brown," she says. Somewhat mystified, he deadpans: "They're all reddish-brown."

Johnson then looks down at the lipstick and gives a verbal plug, "Revlon Super Lustrous," then looks at the mirror and admires herself. (Johnson indeed would seem to have a lot of shades to choose from, with 71 Super Lustrous colors available.) Besides the "shout-out," a Revlon bag is visible in front of the mirror, and the subject of at least one close-up during the extended scene.

Turner executives are fortunate to have Sedgwick on the show as sort of a product placement vehicle. She appears to be popular with both men and women--and her character, despite her loopiness and flaws, is heroic and admirable. It's probably not too tough a sell to indeed convince advertisers to "Insert Brand Here" when it's related to Sedgwick's character and strategically placed.

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