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TV Guide Online
February 24, 2003
Robins Report: Alias is Ford Focused
A Car Chase or a Commercial?
If you thought a chase sequence through the Swiss Alps in a recent
episode of Alias played like a commercial for the Ford Focus SVT —
complete with a close-up of the car's logo — you'd be right. Ford is
an Alias sponsor, and part of its deal with ABC is that the Focus
appear on the show.
"We couldn't be happier with our arrangement with Alias," says Ford
advertising manager Rick Novak. "Of course, if I had my way, there
would be a half hour in every Alias featuring nothing but the
[Focus]."
While product placement in scripted series is relatively common,
advertisers rarely get the kind of treatment the Focus got in the
February 9 episode. That kind of in-your-face placement is usually
reserved for such reality shows as Survivor, where a thirsty
contestant might be rewarded with a cold one from sponsor Budweiser.
A more common example of product placement on dramas occurs on Fox's
24, also sponsored by Ford: Kiefer Sutherland may drive the
carmaker's Expedition, but the SUV doesn't take on the role of
supporting character.
But on the February 23 episode of Alias, two characters talked about
buying a Focus SVT like the one Jennifer Garner was driving. "We
looked at that as a way to make fun of product placement," says Alias
executive producer J.J. Abrams. "I guess there are more subtle ways
to handle it than a car chase. There's always that danger of becoming
a story seller instead of a storyteller."
© TV Guide 2003
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