Beastie-Vision

AT 3 A.M, one expects to find Ron Popeil on the air extolling the virtues of hair in a can. Or an ’80s sitcom star praising a line of cosmetics. But the Beastie Boys hawking exercise equipment and juicers…not so much.

The rappers did indeed produce their own infomercial, a spoof of the genre to promote their latest CD, “Hello Nasty.”

According to Steve Rosenblatt, vice president of marketing for Capitol-EMI, the Beastie Boys’ label, the Boys-Adam Yauch, Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz-“live in their own world and do their own thing,” so leaping into the world ofDRTV wasn’t that much of a stretch.

The parody breaks down into three segments, each sending up the pitch for a different product. Each Beastie Boy plays a part, what Rosenblatt called “the money guy, the workout guy and the juice lady” (and a Beastie Boy in drag is definitely a sight).

Each segment ends with a toll-free number to call. Here the pitch changes, explaining that the viewer can’t get the product, but can get “Hello Nasty.”

The infomercial was placed in the top 20 markets as if it were a real DRTV spot. The half-hour ran for the two weeks leading up to the release of the album in midsummer.

There was no advertising or publicity promoting it. The idea seems to be for fans to find it accidentally while channel surfing and then call friends up to find out if they were seeing it too.

As for response: “We sold a few thousand units,” Rosenblatt said, adding that MTV wants to show the infomercial or at least the eight-minute version.

Plans call for the long version to be rerun in local markets as the band tours. Rosenblatt felt the infomercial might have an “afterlife” as a music video for fans.

Although DRTV has been used to sell music for years, applying the half-hour format to a new release is novel. Rosenblatt sees its possible application with other bands.

“I’m in the impression business,” he said. “And this is another way to get impressions out there.”

Rosenblatt added, “It was an off-the-wall, goofy idea. We ran with it and when it worked, it became a brilliant idea. Now we and others will follow suit.”

We can’t wait for the heavy metal promotion that promises music that slices and dices.-JB