NBC's Eco-Love Could Make You Green

'Behavior placement' goes beyond product placement

By Jane Yager, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 7, 2010 11:57 AM CDT

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NBC's Eco-Love Could Make You Green — This 2006 photo shows the stars of the NBC series 30 Rock, Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy, Tina Fey as Liz Lemon and Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan. The show has featured several eco-friendly storylines. (AP Photo/NBC Universal, Mitchell Haaseth, file)

Tune into NBC Universal the week of April 19th and you'll see characters recycling, reducing their carbon footprints, and eating organic food. This semi-annual week of 100 hours of eco-friendly programming is part of the network's "behavior placement" strategy, which drives ad sales by inserting a feel-good theme into scripts that advertisers want their brands hitched to.

Behavior placement is meant to be more subtle than product placement. NBCU has been doing it since 2007, from Tina Fey tossing a bottle into a recycling bin on 30 Rock to a minor character on Trauma driving a hybrid. Advertisers are pleased—"You're just nodding your head at a program" rather than forcing your way in, one media buyer tells the Wall Street Journal—but NBCU writers, who are obligated to write green-themed storylines, are less enamored.
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