Advertisements as part of the show

[FredLeonard]

I remember one episode of "The Beverly Hillbillies" where Jed, trying to eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast, is constantly being interrupted and he keeps asking to be left alone so he can finish it. With Kellogg's Corn Flakes being the sponsor, I'm sure this is the cereal he was referring to.

Not really an integrated commercial because the name of the product was not shown. Frequently Jethro was shown eating cereal out of a large-economy size box (with the name obscured). He pours the whole box into a big bowl and then empties several quart bottles of milk into the bowl of cereal.

On The FBI (sponsored by Ford), Efrem Zimbalist always drove a Ford. On the new Hawaii Five-0, in which Chevy gets a sponsorship credit, they always drive Chevys.

Notice all the product placements in CBS shows for Windows tablets.

 

[rnigma1]

Years ago, when I worked master control at a CBS station, they were running the sitcom "Still Standing," and in several episodes, a box of a Kellogg's cereal or Keebler cookies (Kellogg had just bought Keebler) would be seen on the living room or kitchen table. That is, if you were watching it in SD. On the HD feed, however, the box was absent. Therefore, it was digitally inserted.

 

[cd637299]

It was asked earlier if the last season of Burns & Allen are on DVD. Sadly, only the kinnies from the first 2 seasons, 1950-52, are available, and you might be able to find 'em at dollar stores.

The filmed 1952-58's are not on DVD yet. Antenna TV still shows it late nights. Cozi TV has the kinnies, and I think they stick them when a movie runs short.

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[BD Sullivan]

It was asked earlier if the last season of Burns & Allen are on DVD. Sadly, only the kinnies from the first 2 seasons, 1950-52, are available, and you might be able to find 'em at dollar stores.

The filmed 1952-58's are not on DVD yet. Antenna TV still shows it late nights. Cozi TV has the kinnies, and I think they stick them when a movie runs short.

cd

There is also a 2004 DVD release of shows (apparently from 1950) that has been universally panned because it's a 5-disc set, yet they have only eight episodes on it. The rest is padded with a documentary and some other weakly-connected drivel that isn't worth the price.

 

[firepoint525]

In Gimme a Break, the middle daughter (was her name Julie?) sang "here's to old friends, tonight is kinda special," which was from a beer commercial about that time.

In another show (I believe it was Diff'rent Strokes), a spelling bee contestant was asked "how do you spell relief?" to which he replied "R-O-L-A-I-D-S." ;D

 

[BD Sullivan]

In Gimme a Break, the middle daughter (was her name Julie?) sang "here's to old friends, tonight is kinda special," which was from a beer commercial about that time.

In another show (I believe it was Diff'rent Strokes), a spelling bee contestant was asked "how do you spell relief?" to which he replied "R-O-L-A-I-D-S." ;D

In the Dick Clark-produced "American Dreams", the youngest daughter was collecting Campbell Soup labels for some contest.

 

[MCarney]

Campbells sponsored "Lassie" throughout its long run. They had several contests, including one to win a Lassie puppy. Premiums included a Lassie ring (like one that was made by a character in the show), pictures, wallet, etc.

 

[Ultimajock]

I don't know about fully integrated commercials but the seamless transition into a commercial (perfected by one Paul Harvey) was a common occurrence in early radio and in some types of early TV shows (notably game shows and sitcoms).

...in actuality, it was Arthur Godfrey (and, to a lesser extent, Paul Gibson at WBBM Chicago) who did the seamless transitions into commercial spots. Paul Harvey's transitions were always quickly marked by "Page Two," "Page Three," etc. Godfrey and Gibson would often simply mention the sponsor's name (Lipton Tea, Creamo cigars, Chesterfield cigarettes) in the middle of a sentence that may have started out sounding like it was about some other subject...

Don Wilson, Jack Benny's announcer and cast member, was famous for announcing the show and cutting right into a commercial seamlessly. Occasionally the cast members (on Benny and other shows) did the commercials themselves without a noticeable break between show and advert.

...in fact, that's how Benny lost his first radio sponsor, Canada Dry Ginger Ale. On the first broadcast in May 1932 over the NBC Blue Network, Benny worked the plugs into his patter, sometimes in a gently ribbing fashion, and either the ad agency or Canada Dry itself didn't like that. Benny kept trying, even after the show was moved to CBS, to get Canada Dry to agree to let him do the spots his way, but Canada Dry refused; when the 39-week contract was up, Benny simply left the show, surfacing a month later on NBC Red with a new sponsor, Chevrolet, who did allow him to work the spots into the show's content.

And, of course, it was common back then to have the sponsor's name right in the title of the show either with or without the star's name. That was because the sponsor owned the time and there was usually only one sponsor. The only show in my recent memory doing that is The Hallmark Hall of Fame and those were some years ago.

...and Hallmark had to quit doing that for the spell when The Hall of Fame was carried on PBS...