Nationwide Is Not On My Side

By now, I've become pretty much inured to the shameless product placements in TV shows paid for by advertisers desperate to get the attention of consumers armed with DVRs and fast-forward buttons. But Nationwide hit a new low recently in its sponsorship of the TBS sitcom “My Boys,” and I hope others don't follow their lead.

Normally, companies just pay to position their products prominently within a show–such as those huge cups of Coca-Cola perched on the judges' desk on “American Idol,” or the Cisco logo staring you in the face as the harried agents on “24″ hook up a video-conference call with the President of the United States.

But in the penultimate episode of this season's “My Boys” (a show about a female sports columnist and her male buddies), one of the dudes develops an annoying habit–singing commercial jingles for no apparent reason.

And what song does he just happen to break into during the episode? Why, of course, that of one of the program's sponsors: “Nationwide is on your side.”

A fellow character laments, “I'll never get that song out of my head now.” Neither will I.

If Nationwide's goal was to get me to remember their brand, they succeeded–but that's not a good thing if what I remember about them is how mad they made me by intruding on one of my favorite shows. Such rude product placements smack of laziness and desperation.

Why not be more clever with traditional ads, like GEICO and AFLAC always manages to be? The same night as the Nationwide fiasco, I laughed my head off at a regular commercial showing the GEICO cavemen knocking 'em dead at a local bowling alley, throwing one strike after another, only to be astonished to see the pin collector come down displaying the tag line, “So simple, even a caveman could do it!”

Minutes later, I saw the latest AFLAC ad classic, featuring its iconic, accident-prone duck touting disability coverage in the middle of a Sherlock Holmes-style mystery. It was a riot!

Thankfully, the “My Boys” character with the jingle affliction (Mike, for those who watch the show) did not display his new-found and obnoxious tick in the season finale, which took place in Arizona during spring training with the Chicago Cubs.

However, Nationwide did manage to sneak in yet another shameless product placement, as Mike is forced to toss one home run ball after another to the Cubs in batting practice, after bragging he could strike out a major leaguer.  As the balls were shown soaring over the rightfield fence, what sign did they clear? Why, Nationwide's, of course!