The fine line between entertainment and advertising turned a shade more gray last week for Schieffelin & Somerset.
S&S’ Johnnie Walker Blue scotch pulled off an unusual product placement last Wednesday night, becoming part of the dialogue in NBC’s hit show The West Wing.
S&S, a Diageo subsidiary that has placed several liquor brands on shows such as The Sopranos (Hennessy) and Friends (Dom Pérignon), appeared to hit a home run with West Wing. Not only was the brand fea tured, but a key character pitched its virtues.
In a segment with Leo McGarry, President Bartlet’s chief of staff, McGarry muses, “Good scotch sits in a charcoal barrel for 12 years. Very good scotch gets smoked for 29 years. Johnnie Walker Blue … is 60-year-old scotch.”
Before shooting, West Wing’s production company, John Wells Productions, approached S&S and its Los Angeles public relations agency, Bradman Nyman Cafarelli, looking for a brand to include in the scene. S&S suggested Blue, said Larry Greifer, vp, entertainment marketing at S&S in Los Angeles. “It’s very rare that you get written into a script,” he noted.
Interestingly, the mention of Johnnie Walker’s upscale whiskey did not cost anything, according to Greifer.
Johnnie Walker shop Bartle Bogle Hegarty and the brand’s media buyer, MediaCom, were not involved in the placement.
“It was incredible for us,” said Michael Stoner, svp, product group director, Johnnie Walker and classic malts, of the placement. “It was a phenomenal endorsement for Johnnie Walker Blue.”
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