Advertising, ad campaigns, ad agencies, and the people that make it happen

I knew it wouldn’t be long before News Corp started to screw up MySpace.com, the hot Web site Murdoch’s empire paid a ton of money for last year. Even though it doesn’t appeal to old goats like me, it built a huge following amongst young people as a portal talking their language and dealing with their interests. The news that FOX is using MySpace.com to promote new comedy "Free Ride" is a scary preview of how it will use the site to plug new venture My Network TV. Fox has covered MySpace.com with "profile" pages for "Free Ride" characters "Nate" and "Dove." At first, stealth marketing was used. The profiles bore no mention of the show, and resembled pages for any random 20-somethings from Johnson City, Mo., where the comedy is set. The pages had funky art and listed the guys' preferences in books and music. (In retrospect, the list of favorite television shows offered by "Dove" might have hinted something was up: All 16 were from Fox.) The pages also included personal videos that Fox made expressly to blend into the MySpace.com milieu. Now, Fox has begun placing ads for "Free Ride" within each profile. Those banners link to the show's section on Fox.com. Separately, Fox has created a special MySpace page devoted to "Free Ride" accessible through a link on the MySpace home page. That site includes a video trailer, MySpace pages for all nine show characters, and the opportunity for MySpace users to link their profiles to the site, becoming "friends" of the show. All I can say is… Typical of all Murdoch’s ventures, MySpace.com is destined to become a shill for all things FOX, which ultimately will turn off the audience he paid millions to acquire. I could be wrong, but I can’t remember the last time I was!!!

Guess what? Your space        is now my space!