It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's "The Next Food Network Star!"
Saturday, June 02, 2007 | posted by Mike
I guess you can call this the original "banner ad."
We alluded to this with our post yesterday but I wanted to be able to get confirmation that we weren't seeing things. I got a tip from TVFF Cub Reporter Jessica that there had been a curious sighting in the skies over TVFF HQ in New Jersey. She noticed a plan flying around and towing a banner promoting the debut of The Next Food Network Star this Sunday, June 3rd at 9pm (ET/PT). Unfortunately, she didn't have a camera on her or I'd be posting a picture of it that would probably have the photo quality of a Bigfood or Loch Ness Monster snapshot.
Jessica took a look at the logo for the show on FN's site and said she was pretty sure that was it and we were able to confirm that, indeed, the folks at FN promoting the show had planes flying with banners over New Jersey and New York. Considering the nice weather we've been having and the beginning-of-summer urge to get outside and walk around, I'm sure the were able to attract quite a number of eyeballs.
The funny thing (and the reason yesterday's post is titled "Viral Marketing, Jersey Shore Style?") is that, for anyone who grew up in New Jersey, these types of banners immediately conjure up thoughts of summer and trips "down the shore," where banner advertisements for restaurants, bars and other attractions are a regular sight for beach-goers. I'm not sure if they're as prevalent on beaches elsewhere in the country...any thoughts?
Anyway, we just thought that it's a delightfully nostalgic and low-tech way to get the message out. In a day and age where we zip through commercials on our TiVo and block pop-up ads on our computer, I'm guessing that just about everyone would look up to see what's written on a banner like this.
Labels: The Next Food Network Star
