TPIR/MDS suggestion

[chris319]

Yeah, but few game shows say you will win a check, but, of course, you do.

The check is the form of payment, not the prize. Once you've cashed the check, what have you got? Money!

There are weasel ways of doing it, anyway. You say "You can win 100,000 nickels...that's right....5 THOUSAND DOLLARS!" go on and do your hypothetical nickel promo and still be able to cut a check for 5K.

Weasel ways don't go over very big with network merchandising departments.

[chris319]

1. To cover part of the cost from our friends at the Treasery

What cost? I just said the government doesn't advertise currency.

2. So on AFHV when they were doing their whole $20 bill thing they had to give the twenties?

Huh?

3. Doesn't CBS say that they have the right to substitue prizes of "equal or greater value" in the wavers?

We just had this discussion with regard to Let's Make a Deal. If the zonk prize were a baby elephant, the show might offer the contestant who won it a color TV and $100 cash and they would usually accept the offer. But if the contestant said they wanted the baby elephant, the show was obligated to deliver a baby elephant. In this case TPIR could offer a check for $5,000 but would have to be prepared to deliver 100,000 nickels.

[Dan Sadro]

[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Nov 11 2003, 09:56 PM\']

1. To cover part of the cost from our friends at the Treasery

What cost? I just said the government doesn't advertise currency.[/quote]
For some reason, there were a few commercials with Kermit the Frog promoting the state quarters, as well as print ads:

U.S. Mint Announces Appointment of Kermit the Frog as 'Spokesfrog' for the 50 State Quarters(tm) Program
Kermit the Frog Speaks Out on the Nation's 'Changing Change'

NEW YORK, June 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Mint today announced a three-year agreement with The Jim Henson Company in which Kermit the Frog, the legendary television and film celebrity, will serve as the official ``spokesfrog'' for America's 50 State Quarters Program. Kermit the Frog will soon be starring in broadcast and print commercials for the 50 State Quarters Program.

[...]Each quarter is produced for only 10 weeks, so consumers are encouraged to keep checking their pocket change regularly to collect each of the state quarters. For more information on the 50 State Quarters and how to collect them, visit the Mint's web site at http://www.USMINT.gov.

SOURCE: http://www.coinmall.com/ccw/ccw19.htm

That suggests to me that the U.S. Mint does indeed advertise currency.

[HYHYBT]

At the risk of going off-topic: the redesigned $20 bill is not being received very well. It's being rejected by vending machines, and it took only one week for counterfeits to be discovered. Back to the drawing board.

All redesigned money is rejected by vending machines until the vending machines are updated to recognize it. And any bill can be counterfeited. The point is to make currency so that most counterfeits are obviously fake. As far as that goes, they're certainly no *worse* than the previous design.

As for not publicizing the state quarters, they didn't do enough of it *before* the first ones were released. The first I heard of it was when one turned up in a till at work when they'd been out a month, and none of us or the customer who got it had heard anything about it. We figured it must be real because who would make fake quarters, and who would do it so badly as to put a horse instead of an eagle on the back?

There was that stupid commercial for the dollar coin that had the George Washington picture off the dollar bill talking about it.

[chris319]

That suggests to me that the U.S. Mint does indeed advertise currency.

You need to learn the difference between paid advertising and public service announcements. The latter have been around for decades and one of the most prominent clients is Smokey the Bear. The U.S. Forestry Service has never paid one nickel for air time or ad space for Smokey the Bear because the time/space is donated by radio and TV stations, networks, magazines, etc. It is conceivable that Henson is donating the cost of producing the PSAs and deducting the cost as a contribution to a non-profit entity.

The Ad Council handles most public service advertising. Here is a mission statement from them:

The Ad Council is a private, non-profit organization that marshals volunteer talent from the advertising and communications industries, the facilities of the media, and the resources of the business and non-profit communities to deliver critical messages to the American public. The Ad Council produces, distributes and promotes thousands of public service campaigns on behalf of non-profit organizations and government agencies in issue areas such as improving the quality of life for children, preventive health, education, community well being, environmental preservation and strengthening families.

It is very unlikely that Treasury has a budget for paid advertising on TPIR or anywhere else, but TPIR could give the nickels exposure as a prize, free of charge, as a public service. This is precisely what Barker does when you see puppy dogs on the show and Barker talks about the animal shelter they came from.

[Robert Hutchinson]

If anyone has an episode on tape from this season's premiere week (I believe it was) of Wheel of Fortune, watching the credits would probably settle this whole mess the fastest: the gift tag that week represented $1000 in new 20-dollar bills.

[inturnaround]

[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Nov 12 2003, 03:10 AM\'] It is very unlikely that Treasury has a budget for paid advertising on TPIR or anywhere else, but TPIR could give the nickels exposure as a prize, free of charge, as a public service. This is precisely what Barker does when you see puppy dogs on the show and Barker talks about the animal shelter they came from. [/quote]
 No, they do have a budget. To introduce the new $20 bill, the Treasury Department spent $33 million dollars.

From the NY Times News Service via the Taipei Times:

"The US Bureau of Engraving and Printing will spend US$33 million on advertising, marketing and education programs to promote the new bill, and it has hired a public relations firm and, in a first, a product placement firm and one of Hollywood's top talent agencies to put the US$20 bill on the publicity circuit. By the time the new bill joins the currency flow next month, it will have appeared virtually everywhere but on the ballot for California's recall election"

I doubt they'll spend anywhere near that for the new nickels, but they certainly are spending money to get their "product" placed. I don't know if they spent money to have it appear on WWTBAM or WoF because the Treasury is likely to have lobbied for free exposure, but they sure did spend to have it pop up on TV elsewhere.

[Mike Tennant]

[quote name=\'inturnaround\' date=\'Nov 12 2003, 07:52 AM\']No, they do have a budget. To introduce the new $20 bill, the Treasury Department spent $33 million dollars.[/quote]
Proving again that if there's any way to waste money, the government will find it.

[chris319]

To introduce the new $20 bill, the Treasury Department spent $33 million dollars.

Well you learn something new every day. I hope they make their $33 million back.

[Dan Sadro]

[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Nov 12 2003, 02:10 AM\']

That suggests to me that the U.S. Mint does indeed advertise currency.

You need to learn the difference between paid advertising and public service announcements. [/quote]
 Public service announcements are, by definition, advertisements.  Whether it's "This is your brain, this is your brain on drugs" or "Look at the new $20," they're still advertising a product, service, or opinion.

The U.S. Forestry Service has never paid one nickel for air time or ad space for Smokey the Bear because the time/space is donated by radio and TV stations, networks, magazines, etc.

But they're still advertising, irregardless if it costs money to air the ad.  And it definitely cost money to create the commercials -- subsidized by donations or not.

When's the last time you saw a Smokey the Bear commercial?  The only PSAs I see are those increasingly annoying anti-smoking ones.

It is conceivable that Henson is donating the cost of producing the PSAs and deducting the cost as a contribution to a non-profit entity.

And it's just as conceivable that Henson got paid for Kermit's familiar image and name.

It is very unlikely that Treasury has a budget for paid advertising on TPIR or anywhere else, but TPIR could give the nickels exposure as a prize, free of charge, as a public service. This is precisely what Barker does when you see puppy dogs on the show and Barker talks about the animal shelter they came from.

Which is entirely different.  That is Bob Barker's charity of choice, which he promotes because he feels so strongly about the cause.  Frankly, if I was in the same position as Barker, I'd talk about puppies, too.

Proving again that if there's any way to waste money, the government will find it.

If they didn't advertise the new $20 bill, many people would not accept the new ones because they would be obvious counterfeits.  Had I not known about the new $20, I wouldn't be dumb enough to accept it.

If you would accept it without knowing about the new $20s, I've got an offer for you:  Send me $200 in traditional currency and I'll send you $15,140 in colorful, new money.

[chris319]

Public service announcements are, by definition, advertisements.

Good heavens, no. You've never worked for a commercial broadcast station, have you? PSAs and promotional announcements are logged differently, treated by the FCC differently, accounted for differently, the time is not sold, make-goods are never given and they bring in zero revenue to the station. As any Broadcasting 101 student can tell you, there is a world of difference between a paid advertisement, a public service announcement and a promo.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Nov 12 2003, 03:58 PM\']

Public service announcements are, by definition, advertisements.

Good heavens, no. You've never worked for a commercial broadcast station, have you? PSAs and promotional announcements are logged differently, treated by the FCC differently, accounted for differently, the time is not sold, make-goods are never given and they bring in zero revenue to the station. As any Broadcasting 101 student can tell you, there is a world of difference between a paid advertisement, a public service announcement and a promo. [/quote]
 And make no mistake, the Treasury Department is not just making PSAs for stations to run.  They're actually spending millions of dollars as part of a commercial campaign to convince people that the funny-colored money spewing out of their ATMs is legit.

[Dan Sadro]

[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Nov 12 2003, 01:58 PM\']

Public service announcements are, by definition, advertisements.

As any Broadcasting 101 student can tell you, there is a world of difference between a paid advertisement, a public service announcement and a promo. [/quote]
Either I'm being confusing or you are misunderstanding my argument.

Public service announcements are a type of advertisement, because it is a promotion of a service, product, or opinion.  The fact that the stations account for it differently does not change the fact that it is an advertisement.  If I stood at the street corner yelling "Only YOU can prevent forest fires," I'm still advertising.

PSAs are not free, either.  If you don't pay the station for PSAs, that means less ad revenue, less net income, and less taxes received.  It's still a cost of the PSA, albeit deferred.  Donations such as the ones to the U.S. Forestry Department for Smokey the Bear resulted in less tax revenue because donations also can lower taxable income.

[Lemonjello]

[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Nov 10 2003, 01:58 PM\'] At the risk of going off-topic: the redesigned $20 bill is not being received very well.  It's being rejected by vending machines, and it took only one week for counterfeits to be discovered.  Back to the drawing board. [/quote]
 No need. There's nothing wrong with the bills. As you said, counterfeits WERE discovered. If counterfeits could NOT be detected, THEN it would be back to the drawing board.

[Matt Ottinger]

It'll help to quote your larger point, which was:

Public service announcements are, by definition, advertisements. Whether it's "This is your brain, this is your brain on drugs" or "Look at the new $20," they're still advertising a product, service, or opinion.

In an extremely broad sense, I see your point.  I just don't believe it's relevant.  

In the real world of TV economics, there is an enormous difference between PSAs and paid advertising.  The fact that as communication tools, they are designed to elicit similar results is an interesting thing to discuss in a conversation about the power and influence of the media.  However, the method by which the "This is your brain" campaign reached the viewer was completely different from the method the government is currently using to commercially market the new twenty-dollar bill.

PSAs are not free, either. If you don't pay the station for PSAs, that means less ad revenue, less net income, and less taxes received.

Again, that's economic philosophy vs real world practicality.   A station manager who runs PSAs instead of paid commercials won't have a station to manage for very long.  He's not going to be too concerned about the "big picture" view that the costs got absorbed somewhere else while he's filing for unemployment.