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Ads Turning Up in 'Lonelygirl15'
About a month ago, they were approached by Hershey's advertising agency. It turned out the brand manager for Ice Breakers gum was a big fan of the show and felt that featuring the product in an episode would reach the desired demographic.
But the show's creators were concerned the fan base would rebel.
  In this file image from the website YouTube.com, the online video of self proclaimed 16-year-old Bree, known as LonelyGirl15, is seen on YouTube, one of the most popular sites for amateur videos. The popular Web series LonelyGirl15 marked a milestone recently when it incorporated product placement into an episode. Hershey Co. paid to have the show's main character, Bree, offer her pals a piece of Icebreakers Sours Gum. (AP Photo/YouTube.com, file) NO SALES (AP) Partnership
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• "When we realized we were going to do it, we went on the forum and said a candy company approached us and wants to do an integration," co-creator Greg Goodfried said. "We told them Bree and Daniel will eat it. But we also said we're not going to do it if it pisses you off."
Of the 200 people who responded, 90 percent approved, Goodfried said.
Remarks posted online after the episode aired also ran mostly in favor.
Web-based shows run the dangers of alienating their young, hip audiences if product placement is done clumsily, said Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research.
"I think any podcast or mobisode that regularly includes product placement is likely to lose significant amounts of credibility," Bernoff said. "The product placement on television is very subtle and that's very hard to do."
Product placement in Web video episodes dates back to 1995 and the first Internet soap opera, "The Spot," according to its creator Scott Zakarin.
He now runs Zabberbox, a company producing several similar shows that are posted on Google Inc.'s YouTube. He said the shows, such as "NoHo Girls" and "VanNuys Guys" will soon also include product placement.
A new episodic Web series co-created by former Walt Disney Co. CEO Michael Eisner will also include product placement, plus a way to purchase clothing and other items featured in the videos.
Sponsors of the show "Prom Queen," which starts next week, include Fiji water, Teleflora.com and Victoria's Secret Pink.
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