Social Marketing Product Placement
A couple of weeks ago, some of my friends and colleagues from the Entertainment Resource Professionals Association (ERPA), of which I am a member, were interviewed by a reporter at the LA Times. The article just came out, and is an excellent introduction to how health and social advocates are facilitating their issues' portrayals in the plotlines of daytime and primetime television shows. Why is this tactic in the social marketing toolbox important?
Getting your issue on TV is not as simple as sending a fact sheet to the producer of a show. People who are working in this field have developed relationships over time with writers, researchers, producers and others in the entertainment industry. They are trusted not to push an agenda or a specific plotline, but to provide accurate facts and ideas that writers can then weave into their storytelling.
So the next time you see Jack Bauer get into his Ford Expedition on 24, you'll probably also see him put on his seatbelt, thanks to the work of health advocates and their receptive Hollywood audience.
If you're interested in more on this, here are other posts I've written on this subject:
Technorati Tags: television, product placement, entertainment, health, social, marketing