When a well-known political figure gets mentioned in a TV drama, can it be product placement? How about if that same political figure runs an ad in the same episode of the same TV drama?
CBS’ series “The Good Wife,” suddenly a favorite of critics, often features plots ripped from the headlines. Tuesday (11/16) night’s show featured a Lindsay Lohan-like character facing a drunk driving charge. The show is set in Chicago, where celebrity misbehavior is frowned upon.
Another piece of current events also made it into the script. Early in the episode, Chris Noth, who plays a former state’s attorney brought down in an Eliot Spitzer-like prostitution scandal and his campaign manager (Alan Cumming) express excitement about “Rahm” coming back to town, referring to Rahm Emanuel, the former Obama chief of staff who has announced plans to run for mayor of Chicago.
Later in the episode, one of the first Rahm Emanuel for Mayor commercials aired (I assume this was a local ad airing only in Chicago).
Was it a coincidence? Or was the fix in? That’s why Chicago is my kind of town.
