Time for Family-Friendly Television

I was listening to Focus on the Family today and heard that Walmart and Proctor and Gamble are collaborating on family-friendly movies. The first venture, a two-hour made-for-television movie called, "Secrets of the Mountain" will air on the NBC network April 16.

I agree there are not enough movies for families with young children to watch during prime-time. I started to wonder, "What's in it for them?"

As I researched a bit more about the movie, I found that it is an adventure movie about a single mom and her three children who use Duracell batteries in their flashlights (P&G's Duracell's? Yup) and they feed their dog Iams food (another P&G product, available where else? Walmart) you get the picture.

So, is this adventure-advertising-relationship a bad thing? Hardly. The Association of Nat'l Advertisers polling reveals that less than a quarter of the population is satisfied with family-friendly viewing these days. I'm one of those.

For a company like Proctor and Gamble who has been in the media spotlight for such charitable works as donating $2 million to Haiti and helping Team U.S.A. moms get to the Olympic Games in Vancouver, it sounds like another winning move in the chess game of building company loyalty. At least they have my vote.

And, for you dog lovers and Cesar Milan fans, they are also collaborating with the television show, Dog Whisperer to offer a pet-friendly approach to cleaning up after their pooches. Imagine that: pet-friendly and family-friendly. P&G's got it covered.

Will this be the new trend in television? Will we see more companies sponsoring television shows in this manner? If you think it won't influence your consumer buying, think again. Take for instance, Macy's sponsorship of the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Macy's sales soared after that. This is from Macy's corporate marketing section:THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE

"For over 80 years, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade® has continued to be the official kick-off of the holiday season. Every year "the longest show on Broadway" is seen by more than 3 million people who line the streets of New York and another 50 million people who tune into NBC and Telemundo to watch the giant balloons, one-of-a-kind floats, the nation's best marching bands, hundreds of cheering clowns and a host of celebrities!"

That's a lot of viewers who associate Christmas shopping with Macy's. Gimble's went out of business in 1987 - maybe they should have collaborated with Macy's.