SNL the new ad agency

When I saw this add on the Super Bowl I had to scratch my head. Not that a TV show was doing ads (product placement anyone) or even that it was SNL, but just because I didn’t think it had anything to do with Pepsi’s messaging.

‘Saturday Night Live’ Acts as Advertising Agency for Pepsi – Advertising Age – Madison+Vine: News

In a move that some viewers considered shocking, cast and crew from the Peacock Network’s venerable “Saturday Night Live” crafted three ads for Pepsi that essentially grafted mentions, cans and logos of the famous soda into three different executions of “MacGruber,” a long-running spoof of the old “MacGyver” TV series. The ads looked just like “SNL” skits but ran during commercial breaks on the Jan. 31 edition of the show. One of the ads also appeared during the recent Super Bowl. Pepsi’s ad agency, Omnicom Group’s TBWA/Chiat/Day, had little if any involvement in the commercials.

And unlike some I’m not really surprised by NBC and SNL making ads. After all haven’t radio stations and local affiliate TV stations been doing this for… well forever?

Yeah it’s a little risky that SNL would leverage their brand in advertising but desperate times call for desperate measures. It will be interesting to see who else jumps on the total-sell-out bandwagon.

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