TV Reality, not Reality TV?

Television often spoofs real life, but what happens when life starts spoofing television?

Heinz Ketchup is preparing to run an ad campaign that original appeared on the fictional drama Mad Men. A pitch the client was reluctant to sign off on on the show. 

The campaign is simple – mouthwatering images, without the paragraphs of text. It relies on one single line, "Pass the Heinz", and, remarkably, doesn't even show the product. 

Sterling-Cooper's all-star executive Don Drape sells the idea that it's a "testament to ketchup that there can be no confusion." 

I think the move is brilliant – 1. it's a great campaign. Period. And 2. lifting it from a hit TV show gives it an automatic PR spin... people were talking about the ads before they were even printed. 

You can watch the original pitch here:

The Mr. Selfridges

I was quite taken with the show The Paradise, which led to the natural recommendation that I watch Mr Selfridge.

The 2013 Masterpiece Theater drama is based on the high end department stores, Selfridges, in London that was opened by an American (played by Jeremy Piven) in 1909.

Originally planned to release in 2012,  ITV pushed back airing for a year because rival BBC began airing The Paradise that same year, and the dramas were too similarly themed.

Both shows are fascinating from a retail marketing perspective — and enthralling in terms of a time period perspective. Mr. Selfridge is based on historical events and stays somewhat true to the store's participation in key events of the time. We see Louis Blériot's monoplane on display from his 1909 cross channel flight, the woman's suffrage march in front of the store, employees enlisting for war, and the women starting a gun club. There's also significant emphasis in the show on creating window displays —the store is still known for their innovative windows today.

In contrast, The Paradise is pure fiction, but I am inclined to draw the conclusion the Moray character is loosely based on Selfridge. He's an energetic, visionary that knows how to sell, sell, sell... and women love him. He has a knack for making every day at the store a major event, moments that London society just must be a part of.

Both shows also have a strong female lead of a soft-spoken shop girl (who gets hired in the first episode based on her ability to sell) who happens to take naturally to marketing and merchandising. And who also ends up in her own romantic entanglements.

As a viewer, I prefer The Paradise, because I found it to be more about the strategy in running a store rather than the affairs and dealings of the rich (or privileged) women in Selfridge's life. The colors of the store and elaborate costumes are intoxicating, and there's something nostalgic about the pre-"off-the-shelf" shopping experience. 

Since window displays and point-of-purchase units are a part of my day-to-day, I'm fascinated by how the world of merchandising and brand placement has transformed the shopping experience. I find that aspect of both of these shows intriguing. I look forward to someday visiting the original Selfridge's in London and seeing how their methods have changed to keep them relevant and thriving.  

Spending the Day in The Paradise

As the weather turns toward winter and the darkness sets in about 5 pm, it's time to snuggle up on the sofa and binge watch our Netflix.

And for me, the show I can't get enough of is The Paradise.

In the spirit of Downton Abbey, it's a BBC-born period piece about a bright-eyed country girl working as a shop-girl working in glamorous, Victorian-era department store called The Paradise.

It's the period setting that I love about it. The store is a scene of magnificent opulence, and if it were at all possible, I would crawl in my time machine and live in The Paradise.

There is an extreme attention to detail – from the elegant merchandise offered in the store, to the costumes, Oh! the costumes! Especially Katherine's—whose outfits are a symbol of status and power, more than fashion statenebt. They put her in exotic, rich, bold colors that pop against an already beautifully planned color palette.You can see more about the outfitting specifically in this behind-the-scenes. I'm glad I don't to have to dress like this every day, but I do think it would be nice if, as a society, we could be slightly more refined!

For those in marketing and retail, there's also some lessons to be learned. Not unlike Don Draper in Mad Men, who gives us lessons in advertising pitches, John Moray and Denise Lovitt seem to be experts in moving product. I'm sure it's not as easy as they make it look, their ideas are always an innovation of the times. 

If you're a fan of Downton, I suspect you'll enjoy The Paradise. It's full of class struggle, gender struggles, drama, and of course, love triangles. It's beautifully cast, scored and staged. It was a devastating blow for me to learn that there will be no third season showing up in my Netflix queue. The first (and only) two seasons are available both on Netflix and Masterpiece on PBS.

Behind the Scenes

On our brief stay in LA, we toured the main Warner Brothers lot, which has been a premier media company / film studio since the early 1900s. The company was started by the four Warner Brothers in 1903, but it was made famous by a dog (Rin Tin Tin) in 1929.

We were there on a weekend, so nothing was filming, and truthfully, it sounds like much film production these days is done out of state or out of country, due to various tax incentives and locations that are offered. So the lot itself was very quiet, lacking the rush and hub-bub that I imagine on film set. 

In some respects it was very interesting, like they add gum and cracks to sidewalks, because if the sidewalks on a city street were pristine, it would look fake. But on a larger scale, it was a little disenchanting. I know TV isn't real, but I was alarmed by how funky and fake it all looked. Without the added affect of lights and props, these buildings, which are just fronts, look like just that—a broken down cutout of a deserted town that's crumbling. 

And yet, these same streets, show up everywhere...

Welcome to Anytown, USA. This "Midwest Street" transforms into any small town. By swapping out the hardware, the signage, the awnings and even the paint color, it changes towns and even spans decades. Let's take a closer look...

The Neighborhood Grocery Store....

As the Dixie Stop in Bluebell, Alabama – Hart of Dixie

and as Doose's Market in Stars Hollow, Connecticut – Gilmore Girls


The Town Square and Gazebo
The most ridiculous, eye-rolling, fact from the tour, and I still want to believe they were just messing with us... is that when they need to shoot a winter scene they pluck the leaves from the live trees, and then when they need to shoot a summer or a fall scene, they zip tie leaves of the appropriate color back on the trees. (We could actually see some strings and zip ties hanging from the empty tree branches... so this may be true). 

Bluebell Town Square - Hart of Dixie
Stars Hollow Town Square - Gilmore Girls

The School Building/City Hall
Stars Hollow High School - Gilmore Girls

 Rosewood City Hall - Pretty Little Liars

The Local Eatery
Luke's Diner - Gilmore Girls

 Apple Rose Grille - Pretty Little Liars
 
The interior set we toured was The Big Bang Theory, and honestly that was much more as imagined, with dollhouse style rooms set up within one warehouse. We also sat on the sofa from Central Perk from the Friends set, which is an alarmingly small set, showing how important camera angles are. 

Overall, the tour made a Hollywood set seem a bit less glamorous, and merely a bag of camera tricks. But it also made me want to go back and rewatch some of my favoirite shows and see which repeat places I can spy!


*Images for the shows were pulled from Google image search.

Burger of the Week #135

If you haven't yet discovered The IT Crowd (!!!) then I'm here to to tell you that Roy's t-shirt collection alone makes this show worth watching!

I envy all of you who haven't seen this show yet, and are going to get to experience the joy of watching it for the first time! Here's a sample, 'cause i can't resist!

In your Satin Tights... Stop a War with Love

In the last 24 hours I have watched 13 hours of the original Wonder Woman. The complete Season 1. (seriously if I hear these lyrics one more time I may implode).

Now from a women's studies point of view, this show is a big cluster. Male fantasy disguised as women empowerment; A superlady in lingerie? With her own Clark Kent disguise that transfixes the lovestruck Steve Trevor? It's too bad all her powers lie in her accessories, and without them she's like any other (Amazon) woman.

But I digress... let's talk about amazing 1975 graphics! Now I know it's 2012, and I shouldn't judge.... but I just can't decide if the graphics make the show awesome or embarrassing. All I know, is that they make it great. Check out the how they overlapped animation and human elements together for they opening sequence.

But it's really the amazing spinning effects to transform Diana Prince into Wonder Woman that truly blow my mind (click to see the originals). A few episodes into the series they improved upon these drastically by adding impressive explosions. Incredible that she never drew attention to herself with a burst like that!

The show is really like a long-legged time capsule of technology and pop culture—oh, and a hatred of Nazi's. Like real strong hatred. 

Well go on Wonder Women, the World is waiting for you. (and your satin tights)