Toyota, PepsiCo Back Contender
Toyota and PepsiCo join The Home Depot as sponsors of The Contender, the latest reality TV project from Mark Burnett Productions.
The show also will feature nonprofit KaBOOM!, a playground-building venture that Home Depot has sponsored for six years.
Atlanta-based Home Depot announced a multi-year deal with Los Angeles-based Burnett earlier this month (Feb. 3 Xtra). “These kinds of partnerships are changing the financial model of TV,” says Producer Mark Burnett, who spoke at the National Retail Federation’s Retail Advertising Conference last week.
Boxing contestants on the show will drive Toyota Tundras; part of their challenge will take place on KaBOOM! playground building sites.
The boxing show premieres March 7 on NBC with three episodes airing that week. “It’s Rocky, The Reality Show,” says Burnett, who calls it “by far my best work.” The show is a collaboration with DreamWorks and co-producer Sylvester Stallone. Burnett’s reported $2 million-per-episode deal with NBC reportedly lets Burnett buy and resell six ad spots per episode.
Burnett also is working on a series slated for CBS called Recovery, which will follow former military and CIA personnel as they recover abducted children. No marketing partners have been announced for the show, which may not air until 2007.
Partnerships haven’t been announced yet for The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. “It’ll be a great American comeback story,” says Burnett.
Burnett used the NRF podium to rail against cheesy reality TV shows: “What [brand] wants to advertise on a show belittling people and ripping their lives apart? Not only is that bad taste, it’s stupid business.”
