Tweet

The CW Pushes Demon Drink to Promote Reaper

Television Network Creates Custom Drink Recipe to Back Series

Edited by Rob Edelstein -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/19/2007 8:04:00 PM

The CW is taking “buzz marketing” literally when it comes to its new show, Reaper. The network has created a custom drink recipe for the series about a kid who becomes the devil’s bounty hunter when he turns 21.

Beginning Sept. 3 and running through the month (the show premieres Sept. 25 at 9 p.m.), two bars in each of the top 10 markets will get a Reaper drink recipe, related promo goods and a CW-dispatched rep to coordinate the promotion. In New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, 25 bars will run 30-second Reaper spots on their digital TVs approximately 12 times per hour.

So what’s a young adult-targeting network doing pushing alcohol? “We’re trying to stand out in an incredibly crowded marketplace with unique stimulation to the viewer,” says CW executive vice president of marketing and brand strategy Rick Haskins. Perhaps to head off pesky Parents Television Council criticism, the network is supplying the recipe only, not the alcohol. It’s also offering a nonalcoholic version, and instructing reps to limit the alcohol variety to one per customer. “We’re being very judicious,” Haskins says.

The CW provided the following recipe for The Reaper (a.k.a. Big Red):

 1 oz sweet vermouth
1/4 oz dry vermouth
1/2 oz sloe gin
2 dashes orange bitters

Pour the sweet vermouth, dry vermouth, sloe gin and orange bitters into an old-fashioned glass two-thirds filled with crushed ice. Stir well, garnish with a slice of orange, and serve.

 B&C staffers have yet to test the blood-hued mixture, but be assured we will do so responsibly.

With Anne Becker

Tweet

Talkback

» Submit Feedback

• 
  

  As an advertiser and a parent, I am appalled at the CW stooping so low. They are bribing teenagers to watch a show, that can stand on its own.
  It todays world teenagers are exposed to many inappropriate temptations and to make it seem cool to create a libation for a show is dumb. The CW is just making its way in a cluttered world and to induce viewers with alcohol will surely hurt them.
  Additionally the creation they created is way too sweet and thankfully tastes foul. A better way to create a buzz would of been to have a Reaper show up.
  Teenagers are being hammered with media images of celebs drinking, driving going in and out of rehab. Is this Cool? Doubt it. Perhaps Rick Haskins needs to take a visit to an AA meeting.

  
  

  
  Connie Crowley - 8/23/2007 5:41:00 PM EDT
» Submit Feedback

Related Content

• Topics
• Author
• Most Popular Pages

No related content found.

Also by this author

• Farewell 2011, Hello 2012

• Timeline & Fun Facts

• Aging Great, Fully

• The Story BehindBroadcasting’s WOW Factor

• Ever Wonder About Andy Rooney?

Also by Robert Edelstein

Most Popular Pages

No Top Articles

• Resource Center
• Browse Categories
• Browse Companies

Featured Company

• Parks Associates

  

  Parks Associates is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates creates research capital for companies ranging from Fortune 500 to small start-ups throug..more

---

Most Recent Resources

• The New Normal for Promoting Tune-in
• Infrastructure Design for High Volume Video Workflows
• Mobile Media Strategies That Work
• Multi Format Encoding for Efficient Content Repurposing
• The CIOs Guide to Videoconferencing Security Keeping Pace with th..