Here’s the birth of it: http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=3159109&view=findpost&p=11591881

The big picture of the idea is that the way people watch shows today has actually made a dent in the belief that the ratings are the only important factor when deciding how to spend advertising money. By hitting a sponsor rather than the network executives, the fans are demonstrating that Chuck fans are actually paying attention to the supporters of the show. It could have been any sponsor, but as you see from the link, she hit on the perfect one. The in-show product placements from Subway won’t be missed by the Hulu viewers, and probably won’t be skipped by the DVR viewers. Therefore, the fans are demonstrating that we SAW the advertisements, we LIKED the advertisements, and WILL CONTINUE to do so with future advertisements on Chuck.

This is the sort of thing that gets advertisers to pay attention, (not just Subway) and when advertisers pay attention to a show, you better believe the network hears the cash register sounds ringing through the halls.

http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2009/04/23/saving-chuck-dont-applaud-throw-money/

Lester- Spokesperson for Subway

Jeff- Spokesperson for Wild Turkey

Morgan- Spokesperson for Paul Mitchell Hair Gels

Casey- Spokesperson for America Rifle Association

Sarah- Spokesperson for Miss Universe

Big Mike- Spokesperson for Sarah Lee

Awesome – Spokesperson for Ken Doll

Nick C.- Spokesperson for all things Television

Last week Chuck had viewers of 6.212m (TVBN). According to an AdAge article published last year (2007), the average cost for a 30sec Chuck commercial was 108k. Subway needs to make at least 108k to breakeven. The only data I couldn’t really find a hard answer on was their profit margin (figures ranged from 15% to 40%), but going conservatively lets assume a 15% profit margin on a 5$ foot long, which comes out to 0.75$. 108k/0.75$ tells us that Subway needs to sell an additional 144,000 Subs to breakeven. That means that 2.32% of the viewers need to purchase Subs. However, lets say an additional 15,000 purchase Subs; then they have sold 159,000 when they only paid to sell 144,000. This translates (using the 2.32%) as reaching a viewing audience of 6.859m people.

Now, I think that I was conservative on most of my numbers. Lets assume since viewership has dropped off since last year that NBC is only charging $75,000 for a 30 sec commercial and that the profit margin on the Subs is 40%. Then Subway only needs to sell 37,500 to break even, but they still end up selling 15,000 additional which equals 52,500 which translates into a viewing audience of 8.696m people. Now, I tried to find the best data that I could so any more accurate data would be helpful. But, this is why I support this action and will be buying a foot long.

I will be purchasing my Sub on Monday!

It’s NBC’s way of finding an answer much like FOX is doing this season with REMOTE FREE TV.”

I know Nick C…It IS a good idea and as I said I’m going to participate. I just threw an additional idea out there, that’s all. I will be doing both! And FrankJ…no I don’t already have 2 copies of season 1 LOL, but I WILL! I have 1 copy of the Season 1 DVD, and a season pass to season 2 on itunes at the moment.

Robert, do you think after all of this, NBC will make us wait until May 5th to know what happens to Chuck? The show is over, all the rating are over for Chuck, why not throw a bone to all the Chuck fans

It’s NBC’s way of finding an answer much like FOX is doing this season with REMOTE FREE TV.

The show is in trouble right now because NBC wants a certain price, and Warner has to drop down that low (and they should). NBC is being cheap (and they should). I figured Josh would have an answer after Vegas (and guessed as much in a reply last night) and the fact that he can’t say they’re renewed only strengthens my belief right now this is all about money. NBC is throwing the “we don’t really have the time slot right now, but maybe we could switch it with something else if the price was right,” idea probably at them full strength.

It has got to be tough right now, and I’m sure NBC needs to keep CHUCK as at least a midseason replacement if another show fails (or Leno fails). So right now it’s all about what Warner can offer the show for. So the Subway campaign is a smart one. Of course Subway is going to have to see a spike greater than 300,000 extra footlongs sold that day (and hear about it).

The idea too that JERICHO some how ruined it for all fans trying to get a show renewed is preposterous. If a show is truly on the bubble and fan support gets it back there is no reason to believe that JERICHO’s fate will happen again. You people seem to ignore how often fan support has brought back shows and how it hasn’t meant certain death for all them at all. JERICHO received a lot of hype, and that was Tassler’s plan. It backfired on her.

Something like “Jill! This is the perfect getaway car! It’s got ___ engine, great gas mileage, great nav system, blah blah blah blah”

The ultimate will be for Big Mike to go manage a Subway, it’s either that or they should really get a donut sponsor for the show.

Heck, 30 Rock has product placements all the time and even repeats the product’s slogan – although in a mockingly way.

I wouldn’t say they are being ignored completely and even before the product placement within the show I remember seeing a Subway in store ad campaign featuring Chuck. I doubt this fan campaign will have any effect on Chuck’s renewal chances but I think it even less likely that it will have some sort of negative consequence that you seem to be implying. Seriously, you are complaining about a fan campaign that is about purchasing items advertised by the tv show. I have trouble seeing how that is going to piss other advertisers of the show off.

So, it’s a letter writing campaign? Really, this is just silly. Pick any “real” advertiser for Chuck and write THEM a letter telling them you saw their commerical on Chuck and remember it. I highly doubt Subway is buttering NBC’s bread here. If the production is getting a monetary kickback (and not just free catering), great – it helps keep costs down. Does this product placement change how much NBC pays for the show? Probably not.

I’m sure advertisers will love that the fan support is behind in-show product placement while the actual ads paid to NBC are ignored completely.

I disagree, it was annoying. It was OK the first couple of times (I rolled my eyes, but kind of laughed too), but it quickly became obnoxious when the $5 deal was mentioned in every episode.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against all product placements in adult programming (I do have some questions and issues with kids programming). I think Dannon should make a deal with the Burn Notice people to supply Michael with Dannon Yogurt. I just don’t think the name and benefits of Dannon should be mentioned in every episode (if at all). The presence of name-brand products and even the occasional mention of the name is OK, putting full commercials within the show is not.

Agree 1000% there. The Subway plugs went beyond the standard “product placement” deal. The iPhone I can see because it’s a popular item, not to mention it’s a lot easier to see a picture Caller ID on it. The Nerd Herd car is a Toyota Yaris, which is a very inexpensive car. It’s not as if they’re driving a Prius or a Lexus SUV around or anything. But when Morgan walks into Big Mike’s office with a $5 footlong and Mike waxes poetic over the sweet and sour teriyaki taste (holy crap, I’m doing it myself!), that goes over the line of annoying.

wait a sec, i think alex said something positive regarding chuck fans actions!!! he must be becoming delusional =p

They’re supposed to. Whether a particular one actually does is another story entirely. Hell, if I worked in that Domino’s in North Carolina with those two disgusting workers, I might be hiding the comment cards myself.

I can only assume emailing will work as well. The big test will be if Subway actually had a sales increase for the 27th or not.

Having the characters drive a specific car, use certain phones and computers, eat a certain food, etc. (even with close-ups on the product and logo) doesn’t bother me. Having the characters deliver lines from the commercials, does.

Call of Duty 4 had HUGE product placement in the Buy More plot last season and in the premiere of this season. It was actually instrumental in the A-plot–and it was funny too. They’ve promoted Toyota as a Nerd Herd car. The Apple iPhone is a huge prop for all the cell phone conversations, large screenshots to show who’s calling, their comic poses (Casey’s number comes up on Chuck’s iPhone, and Casey’s avatar is a photo of Casey about to punch Chuck for taking his picture). The iPhone is also used as a prop when Chuck gets kidnapped or chained up (trying to “use the Force” to reach his iPhone), along with his Casio locator watch. This show is uniquely suited for product placement, beyond any other show I’ve seen.