What’s one way to make Facebook Home look cool? Get celebrities to sell it for you of course. Gawker has obtained insider emails and drafts of scripts that suggest Facebook is looking into product placement with the help of comedians to hopefully change the reputation of Home. According to the emails, Facebook plans to start these promos with the help of VH1’s “Best Week Ever.”
Facebook has tip-toed into TV ads with the launch of Home. The “Airplane” ad spot drew plenty of attention – and criticism. Suffice it to say that Facebook hasn’t made the transition to the tube very easily. Apparently, though, the social network doesn’t plan on giving up.
The social network is taking a far more furtive approach, also quite possibly due to the waning interest of teens in Facebook. According to Viacom insiders who provided Gawker with the internal documents, Facebook has pitched VH1 a segment in “Best Week Ever” that involves its products. More specifically, a Viacom employee tells Gawker, “The only direction we’ve gotten with this is [Facebook wants] the sketch to incorporate functions of Facebook in a non-shitty way.”
The drafts of the script being passed around apparently try to make a little light humor out of Facebook – specifically, Facebook Home. It sounds like Facebook wants to make fun of Facebook but in a self-controlled, good-natured way that essentially leads back to a positive experience with its product. Going overboard on product placement wouldn’t fit the show and would only make the social network look desperate … although, the end result seems like it will be the same. It’s a risky move, regardless of how Facebook tries to initiate it.
A brief look at the script leaves us dubious, however. Not even a Kardashian reference is going to make this sound natural. You can check out the rest of the script at the above Gawker link … if you dare.
