Sometimes you have to wonder if soap opera publicity departments actually want their shows to be publicized. Even when exciting storylines come along they are sometimes nowhere to be found in the press except for a half page interview in Soap Opera Digest which doesn't inspire anyone new to watch. But throughout the past year, things have started to improve in some areas. GUIDING LIGHT reached out to the online community and began running ads on local radio stations and taking full page ads out several national magazines. The show was really forward thinking in this space. DAYS OF OUR LIVES has also reached out to internet journalists recently having an online media day on set. There were non-stop ONE LIFE TO LIVE ads on Lifetime running last weekend. GENERAL HOSPITAL has done quite a bit of press for the debut of James Franco (although that particularly casting piques interest on its own).AS THE WORLD TURNS invited media to join the "Never Surrender Tour" as the show visited Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Greenville (where We Love Soaps was invited to tag along).
This week there are full page ATWT ads in TV Guide, People and Entertainment Weekly. If you open the back cover of EW, you'll see a great picture of Jack and Carly. The ad teases: "She's desperate to find him. He's on the run to find himself." And it proclaims "the most dramatic November ever in Oakdale!" ATWT has been exciting this November as Jack traveled the country looking for answers and a way to help Katie and her baby. Major kudos to the soap for recognizing they had a hot storyline and promoting it properly.
What other examples of "good" advertising and promotion have you seen this year? And where do you think the soaps have fallen short in promoting their product?
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