Fran

Many ITV drama series these days have a sponsor; a bank, Leerdammer cheese, Cadburys etc and I wondered if anyone knows what this sponsorship pays for? Do they meet the whole production cost of the televison programme, which in the case of a 2 hour drama could be considerable or what?
If so why do they sponsor them? It has been proved time and time again that most people are not influenced by advertising in this way, and that the link between Leerdammer for instance and A Touch of Frost may as well not exist because people genuinely don't connect the two.
In my own case I certainly wouldn't choose a product purely by association with a television show, it's the exact opposite because the often wierd and stupid attempt at surrealism "Sponsored by..." bits of rubbish at the start of the programme and out and in each advertisement break guarantees that I would go out of my way NOT to buy the product because it is so damned annoying to me the viewer!
So if any professional TV types or knowledgable members on the forum can explain to me why this relatively new phenomenon exists and what is the point of it all I would be very interested to hear from you.

Fran
(sponsored by going to work every day)

Fellwanderer

I, too, can see no point in it - or, rather, it doesn't help them sell anything to me. Like Fran, I'd be more than likely to avoid buying anything that spoilt my enjoyment of a programme.

FELL [trying to find a reason not to do any work!]
[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/innocent.gif[/img]

All the best
FELL

A signature is no substitute for a life

DB7

I think Cadbury paid £10m for Coronation Street and I would assume that money goes to the shows produiction company (Granada?) rather than the broadcaster.

I'm not sure they're allowed any product placement privliges or to press for storylines about shoplifters that only pinch Dairy Milk. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif[/img]

Fran

Cadburys must be completely stupid and Granada extremely clever to extract so much money out of them!

samkydd

I wouldn't give you tuppence for Coronation Street let alone £10,000,000! I think you're right that Cadburys are either stupid or have been duped in some way, and that they don't realise that it has more of an adverse affect on the company because it does drive people mad!

For a large well known company like Cadburys to be associated with Coronation Street is damaging anyway, it's like Michael Schumaker being associated with a rusty old powder blue 1985 Mark 2 Vauxhall Chav-alier MOT failure with a rattly cam, a hand painted red radiator grille and a giant "Bolle" sunglasses sticker on the back window!!

I don't get the Leerdammer one either, it's hard enough getting people to try rubbery continental cheeses anyway without alienating even more potential customers by annoying them in this way!

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

Fellwanderer

Can anyone think of an advert that has made them seriously look at buying the item? I've scratched my head long and hard but haven't come up with anything - either TV advertising doesn't work on me or it is very subtle at a subconscious level.

FELL
[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/innocent.gif[/img]

All the best
FELL

A signature is no substitute for a life

red squirrel

Film on Four is sponsored by Stella Artois. I've never found the advertising intrusive, in fact, it seems quite complimentary, though I prefer better, more authentic, Belgian beers myself; and somehow I find it difficult to believe that most Stella-supping 'yobs' would ever contemplate watching an arty-farty 'foreign-language' film on Channel Four, not even for any 'gratuitous' nudity! Not that that is the reason I do, well not always!

Jackdaw

I find programme sponsorship slightly sinister.There is the potential for product placement,content influence and interference on social stances.
I understand that in the US, sponsors have sought to influence programme makers, after they themselves have been threatened with product boycott by some loony pressure groups who have been affronted by" liberal" attitudes portrayed in their shows.
I imagine that ITV would like sponsors for all its shows if possible,and the easiest way to achieve that would be t churn out endless non-controversial,simplistic mush like FARTBEAT,BORN AND DREAD and THE BOYAL.No change there then.

Cheers

Jacky

samkydd

Perhaps sponsorship should be applicable for a particular programme:

Coronation Street sponsored by Morrisons lard and gristle pies and Sunny Delite

The Bill sponsored by Amnesty International

Heartbeat and The Royal sponsored by Horlicks

Emmerdale - sponsored by budgetdramaschools.com

Waking the Dead sponsored by Thatcham Approved Car Alarms Inc

What Not To Wear sponsored by Marks & Spencer

A Touch of Frost sponsored by Bluecol Anti-Freeze

Can't Cook Won't Cook sponsored by McDonalds

Ant and Dec sponsored by Canesten Thrush Cream (for irritating c***s)

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

smudge

you always hit the nail on the head Sam, and have me [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rotfl.gif[/img] every time - particularly on that last one...

[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsup.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsup.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsup.gif[/img]

SMUDGE

[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devil.gif[/img]

Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

JamesM

Not intrusive! The times I have had to rush for the volume button to turn down the sound when the Stella Artois interlude appears. I am not exaggerating, relative to the soundtrack of the film playing, it's quite deafening. I often wondered if this was part of the deal, to ensure we know who the sponsors are.

red squirrel

It doesn't bother me as I tape any late night showings on Channel Four and fast-forward through the adverts. Having said that I don't see anything wrong with the way it's sponsored by Stella. I think that the intros are quite well done and fit in with Film on Four. The film from which I've 'borrowed' by ID here was shown that way.

samkydd

Mr M O'Shaughnessy of Harpenden writes:
”I have suffered with lower tolerance level of television series sponsorship pseudo surrealism intros for some years, then recently I purchased my first VCR from your company, and it was not long before I realised this was like a gift from heaven, a fantastic product. Like most things in life, I took it for granted that you had to sit through this sponsorship crap at the start of every TV series and advertisement break, and then I discovered the pub down the road and now record the TV shows to watch later. The fast forward function on my VCR’s remote control unit winds through the offending spiel in seconds, thus increasing my enjoyment of the drama feature. It was then I realised how important it is to record stuff and enjoy a healthy social life, but guess what? My wife could not record Coronation Street whilst my stuff was being recorded and had to watch it live instead. Imagine her surprise at discovering that she now has a total revulsion of Cadbury’s chocolate products! We immediately ordered a second VCR from your company and I felt I must write to thank you for changing our lives!”.

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

Fran

Yes that is the best thing for it really, it's a lot more convenient to record the programs anyway.
I still prefer VCRs to DVD players because sometimes on a pre-recorded DVD film it won't let you skip forwards to the start of the film or show, you are forced to view the copyright notices and opening Warner Brothers bits etc. Also I still have around 40 or so blank video tapes and until they or the VCR wears out I won't bother getting a DVD recorder.

Tony Pendrey

As we now have the technology to "skip" adverts and such, my bet is that advertising and sponsorship will become more and more intrusive in the future. It's a simple fact that the advertisers pay for the stuff we see on commercial TV and they are going to start insisting that they get decent exposure for their dosh.

Going back to the original point(s), I can't think of any product that I have actually purchased 'cause I saw it on telly. But advertising/sponsorship doesn't really work that way. Yes, it is quite subliminal. Us poor consumers are always more likely to buy products whose names we are familiar with.

I myself feel distinctly "uneasy" when shopping in Aldi or Lidl

[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]

I obviously have been totally conditioned by these evil manipulative sods.

Ah Yes, the Soviet Union. All them wheatfields and ballet in the evenings