Author Topic: TRiR: Generic Plugs? (Read 4621 times)

mystery7 · « **on:** July 02, 2004, 04:48:18 PM »

I noticed during Hole In One (Or Two) on today's Price rerun that "plug copy" for a couple of the products Burton described didn't include brand names, even though brands were plainly visible on their packages. I've heard this a couple other times recently - is it a new thing? And what's bringing this on? I know from CBS's site that Price frequents online stores for some of their smaller prizes, and doesn't credit the manufacturer or store on the air. Wonder if they're doing the same for groceries and similar, and what the benefits would be over plugging someone's product and earning a little money in return.

MSTieScott · « **Reply #1 on:** July 02, 2004, 05:07:25 PM »

This started about a year or so ago, I guess, with the groceries... it's been going on forever with the Plinko-sized prizes.

It basically means that the show couldn't find six companies willing to provide products that fit the necessary price structure for Hole in One. I saw today's rerun -- three of the products were sponsored, but the show had to fill the other three slots from their collection of groceries that they use whenever they need to fill a gap (in today's rerun, the potato chips, peanut butter, and light bulbs were the three that weren't sponsored, as you noticed). I think maybe once this season, the cheapest item in It's in the Bag was sponsored.

You'll also occasionally notice a lack of brand name on furniture or televisions... sometimes, they just can't get enough sponsors, it seems.

(A follow-up question for anybody who might know -- on some days, the grocery game will have one or more of these "non-sponsors," but later in the show, they'll offer a supply of a grocery with a One Bid prize. Obviously that grocery is sponsored. A couple of times, it's seemed like that grocery could have been included in the pricing game. Can the grocery sponsors request that their products be given away as "supplies" instead of used in the pricing games?)

(Follow-up question #2: Has the grocery at the beginning of the Golden Road ever been given a formal announcer plug?)

--
Scott Robinson

clemon79 · « **Reply #2 on:** July 02, 2004, 07:32:48 PM »

[quote name=\'MSTieScott\' date=\'Jul 2 2004, 02:07 PM\'] (Follow-up question #2: Has the grocery at the beginning of the Golden Road ever been given a formal announcer plug?)
[/quote]
If by that you mean "And it all starts with this box of Rice-A-Roni. Tell us about it, Johnny!" then I believe they did.

zachhoran · « **Reply #3 on:** July 02, 2004, 08:17:21 PM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jul 2 2004, 06:32 PM\'] [quote name=\'MSTieScott\' date=\'Jul 2 2004, 02:07 PM\'] (Follow-up question #2: Has the grocery at the beginning of the Golden Road ever been given a formal announcer plug?)
[/quote]
If by that you mean "And it all starts with this box of Rice-A-Roni. Tell us about it, Johnny!" then I believe they did. [/quote]
They haven't done it in the 20+ years I remember of TPIR. The last time GR was played, they didn't even get a close up of the grocery item that kicks off the game as they usually do.

clemon79 · « **Reply #4 on:** July 02, 2004, 08:28:41 PM »

[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Jul 2 2004, 05:17 PM\'] [quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jul 2 2004, 06:32 PM\'] [quote name=\'MSTieScott\' date=\'Jul 2 2004, 02:07 PM\'] (Follow-up question #2: Has the grocery at the beginning of the Golden Road ever been given a formal announcer plug?)
[/quote]
If by that you mean "And it all starts with this box of Rice-A-Roni. Tell us about it, Johnny!" then I believe they did. [/quote]
They haven't done it in the 20+ years I remember of TPIR. The last time GR was played, they didn't even get a close up of the grocery item that kicks off the game as they usually do. [/quote]
Then maybe you need to remember a little more.

Clay Zambo · « **Reply #5 on:** July 02, 2004, 10:50:09 PM »

[quote name=\'MSTieScott\' date=\'Jul 2 2004, 04:07 PM\'] You'll also occasionally notice a lack of brand name on furniture or televisions... sometimes, they just can't get enough sponsors, it seems.
[/quote]
Is it a lack of specific sponsors? Seems to me I used to hear plugs like, "Some prizes from the famous Spiegel catalog," etc., and then elsewhere in the show would see prizes whose plugs didn't include a manufacturer. I assumed those items were covered by the "some prizes" plug.

Of course, I could have dreamed the whole thing.

tvrandywest · « **Reply #6 on:** July 03, 2004, 03:14:41 AM »

Products end up on the show in one of five ways:

1- They are simply purchased for the show OR
2- Sponsors provide items free in exchange for the mentions OR
3- Sponsors only pay cash for the mentions without providing any product OR
4- The sponsor's deal involves their providing a combination of both product AND cash OR
5- The show provides mentions AND pays additional cash for the prize.

It all has to do with the value of the prize in question and the individual deals that were struck with the various providers of the prizes - it's an open marketplace.

Jerry and Randy (Jeran) have been among the people who volunteered the details of their product PLUS cash deal for their original dresses. Besides dealing directly with a manufacturer, CBS' handful of prize procurers also deal with middlemen known as prize brokers. Other shows rely solely on the same independent prize brokers that CBS uses. You know some of those broker names from reading credits: Promotional Consideration Inc., PIC-TV, Exposure Unlimited, Promotional Advertising Services, Game Show Placements, Creative Television Marketing, etc.. Brokers work for a percentage of the deals they put together. The production company has final say as to what prizes are used on the air.

The prizes not "plugged out" are usually either purchased by the show or are part of the inventory from prizes previously plugged but not won. In the case of products that are purchased, the production company simply writes copy that describes the product in the style of the show, but will exclude the manufacturer's name. In the cases where the show simply purchases prizes, they come from sources that run the gamut from Sharper Image to Target.

The car/motorhome/boat deals on "Price" usually involve the show providing mentions AND paying cash. The show has a budget for those cash outlays that is watched carefully. The specifics for each deal can vary widely, are rarely known by the winners, and are simply part of the sales and merchandising part of the TV business.

For extra credit, can you name prizes commonly seen on "Price" that fit into each of the five categories above?

Randy
tvrandywest.com

BrandonFG · « **Reply #7 on:** July 03, 2004, 03:22:38 AM »

[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Jul 3 2004, 02:14 AM\'] Products end up on the show in one of five ways:

1- They are simply purchased for the show OR
2- Sponsors provide items free in exchange for the mentions OR
3- Sponsors only pay cash for the mentions without providing any product OR
4- The sponsor's deal involves their providing a combination of both product AND cash OR
5- The show provides mentions AND pays additional cash for the prize.

For extra credit, can you name prizes commonly seen on "Price" that fit into each of the five categories above?
[/quote]
Oooh! Oooh! I wanna be Horan for a day (that sounds creepy)!

1. Groceries (such as the can of vegetables at the beginning of Golden Road)

2. Cars?

3. Anything on the closed-caption plugs?

4. Furniture or large appliances?

5. The kitchen appliances supplied for games like Pathfinder or Cliffhangers (anything under $50)?

Steve_Bier · « **Reply #8 on:** July 03, 2004, 04:20:10 AM »

Okay...let me ask a petty, silly (albeit legitimate) question:

Why is it, that a good deal of the compact cars on PiR (Neons, Escorts, etc) are for the most part, fairly stripped? I mean, one definately CAN live without power windows, locks, sunroof, etc....but do the winners really take cars given with a stick and no A/C, or do they wind up upgrading at the dealer?

ClockGameJohn · « **Reply #9 on:** July 03, 2004, 05:52:37 AM »

[quote name=\'Steve_Bier\' date=\'Jul 3 2004, 04:20 AM\'] Why is it, that a good deal of the compact cars on PiR (Neons, Escorts, etc) are for the most part, fairly stripped? I mean, one definately CAN live without power windows, locks, sunroof, etc....but do the winners really take cars given with a stick and no A/C, or do they wind up upgrading at the dealer? [/quote]
Well, if you're referring to the show - I might be able to answer.

I'm told that 99.9% of the cars are now purchased 100% by the show. No plugs, no fees...they gotta buy em. That whole deal of people saying "I bet Chevy doesn't like it when Bob calls the car a 'Cracker' instead of 'Tracker'" doesn't mean crap since the show is paying for the car without Ford even giving them a reacharound.

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #10 on:** July 03, 2004, 08:39:01 AM »

What happens to the cars, motorhomes, etc. that are never won within a model year?

Steve_Bier · « **Reply #11 on:** July 03, 2004, 10:25:40 AM »

[quote name=\'ClockGameJohn\' date=\'Jul 3 2004, 04:52 AM\'] I'm told that 99.9% of the cars are now purchased 100% by the show. No plugs, no fees...they gotta buy em. That whole deal of people saying "I bet Chevy doesn't like it when Bob calls the car a 'Cracker' instead of 'Tracker'" doesn't mean crap since the show is paying for the car without Ford even giving them a reacharound. [/quote]
That definately makes sense, especially with it coming out of their budget and all. However, let's say that I DID go on PiR, and win...let's say...a Cavalier. The car has nothing but its standard equipment (wheels, doors, seats, dashboard). For medical reasons, I cannot drive a 5-speed. And also for medical reasons (yeah, I'm falling apart..I freely admit it) I need an air conditioner. I know that PiR has a "take it or leave it" policy, which brings me to my next question: Since I live in New Jersey, the car would (assumedly) be shipped to a dealership of my choice here, right? If that is the case, would the dealer be willing to swap that car for something else on his/her lot? Has anyone ever done that? Or--a strange thought--swapped the NEW car for a 2 or 3 year old USED vehicle? For me, if I won a $14K car that I could not drive, it might make sense to swap it for a $9K used car, and have some extra cash to play with..........

tvrandywest · « **Reply #12 on:** July 03, 2004, 11:41:00 AM »

[quote name=\'Steve_Bier\' date=\'Jul 3 2004, 06:25 AM\'] ...would the dealer be willing to swap that car for something else on his/her lot? Has anyone ever done that? [/quote]
This one has been answered a half dozen times on this board in the past year. Search 'em out for the long answer. The short answer is that it is at the discretion of the dealership.

In my case I shmoozed the sales manager to where the value of my 1984 CBS Nissan Sentra would have been applied to the Mercedes and Audis for which he was also a dealer. But then I do have a silver tongue ;-P

He told me the Audi would be in the shop as much as it would be on the road, and that the Mercedes was overpriced by about $5,000 simply for the name value. I added enough cash to get the spiffiest big-ass Maxima on the lot.

Your results may vary. Good luck ;-)

Randy
tvrandywest.com

Steve_Bier · « **Reply #13 on:** July 03, 2004, 12:29:14 PM »

[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Jul 3 2004, 10:41 AM\'] He told me the Audi would be in the shop as much as it would be on the road, and that the Mercedes was overpriced by about $5,000 simply for the name value. [/quote]
So true....my parents had both an 84' Mercedes 300 Turbodiesel (nice car, but hardly worth the price tag) and an 85' Audi 5000 (my mom drove more dealer loaner cars than she did the Audi).

Maxima is a sweet car! Did you have the one that talked??

tvrandywest · « **Reply #14 on:** July 03, 2004, 01:41:24 PM »

[quote name=\'Steve_Bier\' date=\'Jul 3 2004, 08:29 AM\'] Maxima is a sweet car! Did you have the one that talked?? [/quote]
She was the best female companion I ever had - she never said "no"!

I'm on my third Maxima now, and just yesterday test drove what may well be my fourth.

Randy
tvrandywest.com