Pillow Talk, and More
BEVERLY HILLS How do you run a promotion for Playboy TV that will reach people who don’t watch and may not approve of the network’s shows? Very carefully, says Playboy Television vp marketing Maggie McDermott.
That’s the challenge she faced when she sought to hype the network’s most popular show, Night Calls. The three-year-old show is a 90-minute, call-in program where viewers discuss intimate experiences with hostess Juli Ashton. The show, which goes live to the entire country twice a month, draws 150,000 phone calls per episode, even though only 15 calls are aired.
The show features a trademark red couch that Ashton sits on as she takes calls. “The couch has become another character on the show,” McDermott says.
So when Playboy wanted to run its first show-specific promo, McDermott started with the couch. “We thought everyone has one, and everybody has a story.”
The Night Calls Couch Contest asks people to submit the most interesting (nudge-nudge) activity they’ve ever done on their couch. The 50-word entry asks for a picture of the person and their couch; entries are accepted until the first week of November. The winner of the contest will not only get to appear on a February show, but will be able to bring their couch with them. “We’ll have a camera crew tape the move,” McDermott adds. “We don’t know what we’re going to end up with.”
The winner will also receive a personal tour of the Playboy mansion with Ashton and $500.
To get notice for the contest off the cable channel, Playboy has created commercials for cable operators to run on other channels. That’s where the tact comes in.
“The spots have to run in places like Nashville as well as New York, so we have to be careful not to offend people,” McDermott says. The channel opted for claymation ads that show a couch from behind as various items are tossed over the back and the contest details are spelled out.
Competition for Playboy TV comes from both mainstream networks and the Web, McDermott says. Playboy’s original programs, including Naughty Amateurs on Video and Sex Court, help the channel distinguish itself, she adds.
