Unbound Edition - CW Please Tell Me You’re JK

The new ad campaign for the CW’s teen drama, “Gossip Girl,” is so juicy that even Perez Hilton couldn’t pass it up. The overtly sexual ads, which merely include the phrase, “OMFG!,” are the perfect fodder for opinionated online voices.

Some complain that the ads are too racy for a show targeting teens. Others say the show doesn’t target teens, but rather twenty- and thirty-somethings (and therefore the ads are okay).

As a fan of the show, I agree with Leslie Goldman of The Huffington Post – whether targeting teens or not, the main characters are 16 and 17-year-old juniors in high school. Whether teens are having sex is not a question, but do we need to have their sex faces in our faces? I get it, sex sells. As open-minded as I am, I think these are a little distasteful.

Heavens!
written by Goody Proctor, April 15, 2008 05:22 PM

Pardon my puritanical self, but I don't need to see teens getting their statutory groove on like that.

teens, you say?
written by ChesterChester, April 15, 2008 08:21 PM

Awesome. Not at all inappropriate.

high schoolers?
written by Theresa, April 21, 2008 11:45 AM

Every time I see a commercial like this all I can think is "come oooooon, no 16-year-old actually looks like this."
and "sex, sex, sex?" it's not only distateful, it's annoying.

Buzz? Yes! / Value? No.
written by Adam, May 04, 2008 04:00 PM

Okay, personally I think the buzz and intrigue these ads have stimulated is phenomenal. A few weeks ago I had no idea what "Gossip Girl" was, and yet I found myself adding a couple episodes to my iPod before a transatlantic flight—that's the awareness these ads have created.

Here's my problem: I thought the show itself was terrible. Poor acting. Cliché lines. And, I was a little irked by the awkward resemblance of the main characters to those Upper East Side girls that attend college with me.

Most viewers agree—“Gossip Girl” is consistently one of the least viewed shows in its timeslot according to ABC’s Medianet (www.abcmedianet.com). Yet, we all know “Gossip Girl.” Everyone has heard of the show. In fact, OTX (Online Testing eXchange), a global consumer research and consulting firm, originally marked “Gossip Girl” as one of the “Top 10 New Shows on Awareness” (www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20070808otx01).

The CW seems to have an interesting dichotomy on its hands. Through its edgy marketing campaign, the network has created great buzz for this TV show—the current OMFG ads have us all talking, and even inspired me to download a few episodes. However, viewer ratings leave much to be desired. The ads themselves may trump the actual TV show. I worry that like Josh Schwartz’s previous television series—think “The O.C.”—“Gossip Girl” may be left with just buzz.

Fundamental to marketing is creating value for the consumer, and I think in this instance all that has been created is ‘intrigue’. If the intrigue cannot be supported by value, it eventually loses its importance—again, just buzz.

Great job with the 17-year-old sex faces—really, this ad campaign has pervaded all forms of social media—but how about generating some discussion on Serena, Blair, Chuck, Dan and all the other “Gossip Girl” characters who, as far as most are concerned, don’t even exist.