Was “MacGruber” a “Saturday Night Live” sketch or Pepsi commercial?
Depending on when you were watching television over the weekend, it was hard to tell.
On Saturday night’s “SNL,” the recurring bit starring cast member Will Forte aired three times during the show, each time with comical over-the-top promotion for Pepsi.
Then on Sunday night, one of the same “MacGruber” sketches — in which Forte plays a parody of the ’80s action series “MacGyver” — aired during NBC’s broadcast of the Super Bowl as a commercial.
As it turns out, all were paid commercials by Pepsi, made in collaboration with producer Lorne Michaels’ “Saturday Night Live.” The segments weren’t product placement, but commercials paid for by Pepsi and produced by “SNL.” Though they appeared to be sketches on “SNL,” they ran during allotted commercial breaks.
NBC Entertainment Co-Chairman Ben Silverman said Pepsi paid full freight for the spots — which sold for about $3 million per 30-second spot during the Super Bowl.
“They really made it very funny and obvious, so I don’t think there was any confusion,” said Silverman. “Everything is ongoing experimentation, but the reality is we need to evolve and do more and more things.”
Added Silverman: “It’s not just an ad for Pepsi, it’s an ad for ‘Saturday Night Live.'”
Branding expert Peter Arnell was in charge of PepsiCo’s Super Bowl campaign, which also included a 3-D commercial for its SoBe Life Water.
“The creative space is ‘SNL’s’ and they were commercials we would have bought, so the economics were as normal as it ever was,” said Arnell. “It’s the un-advertising advertising.”
The first “MacGruber” sketch/commercial that ran during “SNL” came amid other commercials — after a movie trailer for “The Pink Panther 2,” which is what host Steve Martin was (what else?) promoting.
PepsiCo American Beverages chief Massimo d’Amore, who watched the game from a luxury box with NBC and Michaels, declined to say how much the company paid the network for the spots. An estimated 95.4 million people watched the Pittsburgh-Arizona Super Bowl, making it second only to last year’s game as the most popular ever, according to Nielsen Media Research.
“We have been working together all along in a true partnership,” said d’Amore. “This is definitely not a one-off. It’s a very determined step to connect with the consumers of today in a new contemporary way.”
The ads include all the same usual characteristics that the sketch series normally does: its cheesy opening theme song, a frightened sidekick (played by fellow cast member Kristen Wiig) and MacGruber’s inevitable distraction (in this case, a Pepsi). The real MacGyver — Richard Dean Anderson — also made a cameo.
That a marquee “SNL” sketch would be sold to a marketer might rub some loyal viewers the wrong way. Fans, after all, tune in for comedy, not for well-dressed commercials.
Silverman says the viewer only wins, since the Pepsi sketches replaced regular commercials. (He also noted that “SNL” talent was paid for the work outside of their normal salaries.)
“It wasn’t inside the show,” said Silverman. “Lorne really protected the show. I think the fans of ‘Saturday Night Live’ got to see a ‘MacGruber’ that they wouldn’t have otherwise seen.”
Michaels wasn’t available to comment Monday.
“What we’re doing is selling entertainment vehicles and marketing platforms,” said Silverman, who has looked for other revenue streams for NBC as network TV ratings have slid. “This is where programming is going.”
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More