If the definition of insanity is repeating the same mistake over and over expecting a different result, somebody at the CW marketing department needs to get their head checked… and STAT!
Or at least that was our first reaction to the perennial fifth place network’s marketing strategy for touting the return of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES this Thursday at 8PM. Giant billboards in New York and Los Angeles urging fans to “Catch VD?” A teaser trailer that asks, “Got Wood?” Seriously CW Network, was this really the best you guys could come up with?
Look, we appreciate what a challenge it must be to cut through the increasingly cluttered entertainment landscape on what is surely a very meagre marketing budget, and yes, we get that “sex” sells. Unfortunately, the equivalent of yelling “SEX! Now that we’ve got your attention” hasn’t exactly sold for the network in the past. Just ask the talented writers and actors of MELROSE PLACE how they’re doing following last season’s less-than-successful “Ménage a Tues.” campaign.
What’s more, we were always under the impression that the sleazy type of lowest-common-denominator marketing methods that you’ve decided to employ was traditionally reserved for entertainment that offers little else, you know, like Megan Fox movies. Something THE VAMPIRE DIARIES is certainly not. Aside from being jam-packed with ample amounts of eye candy, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES is actually filled with killer performances and jaw-dropping twists (Yes, you can quote us!) One that, unlike its cable brethren (cough*TRUEBLOOD*cough), does not have to rely on gratuitous amounts of violence and nudity to keep us on the edge of our seat week after week.
Which naturally raises the question: So why on earth do you? 