‘Empire’ Continues to Put Marketers’ Commercials in the Spotlight

Related: Who’s Spending What Where: November 2, 2015

As B&C reported in August, Lincoln Motor Co. and Pepsi signed on as official sponsors of the second season of Empire, which has allowed the show to continue to air with fewer commercials than normal. That’s been great not only for both of those advertisers — and for fans who can’t get enough Empire — but for Fox, which has seen the hit drama become a magnet for fresh creative from A-list marketers of all kinds.

Some 67 brands have run 97 individual spots on Empire five episodes into its second season, which means that viewers are seeing less repetition of individual creative than they would during other hour-long dramas. While Pepsi stands alone as Empire's beverage sponsor, Lincoln has had great company from fellow automotive brands, including Hyundai, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Kia, Subaru, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Ford (Lincoln is a division of Ford). In fact, automotive is the No. 1 industry backing Empire.

Movie marketers including Universal, Columbia, Lionsgate and Warner Bros. — as well as, of course, Twentieth Century Fox — have also flocked to Empire, along with luxury brands including Hugo Boss Fragrances and Yves Saint Laurent Beauty.