Frankie Heck settles into the driver's seat of a new Volkswagen on a recent episode of ABC's "The Middle," caressing the steering wheel as celestial music plays. Her face is a mask of such pure pleasure that you almost want to avert your eyes.
The gleaming Passat appears throughout the half-hour. Dad Mike finds it a comfortable refuge for a nap, daughter Sue studies for driver's ed and the whole family uses it as a restaurant by driving around with a bucket of chicken.
Welcome to the world of product "integration" on prime-time television. Advertising within programs has gone beyond the mere placement of soda bottles on the table in front of "American Idol" judges. The Passat didn't just pass by on the street during "The Middle," it was a key part of the comedy's story line.
Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, who has long protested the encroachment of unmarked ads within entertainment programming, called the episode "astounding," and he wasn't being complimentary. Final reviews of consumer attitudes aren't in yet, but ABC and VW considered the placement effective, illustrating another way to satisfy advertisers who are concerned about the growing number of people watching programs on their DVRs and fast-forwarding through commercials.
Product integration isn't difficult to find. On last week's "30 Rock" on NBC, Jenna posed for paparazzi in front of a restaurant, saying, "Make sure you get the 'Outback' sign in the picture or I don't get paid."
In "Desperate Housewives" last year, a woman suspected her husband was cheating. She spied on him with his new Sprint phone, checking it for missed calls and text messages.
ABC and VW started working on the product integration last spring when they were negotiating an overall deal for advertising this TV season. The example is more valuable than a traditional ad, although neither ABC nor Volkswagen would say how much.
"The Middle" seemed like a perfect venue, said Justin Osborne, Volkswagen's general manager for marketing strategy. Its characters are solid middle-class from middle America, for whom a new Passat would be nice enough to want but not so expensive that it's out of reach, he said.
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