Last night I watched the "Lost" 6.6 in real time, which meant that I was forced to also watch commercials. The trade off is worth it - especially in this hyper-social networking culture, where, if Fake Locke were to stab Ben Linus in the face with a soldering iron, I would know within eight seconds thanks to some jack-ass in my "network" that insisted on live-tweeting the episode or what have you. Regardless of whether its right or wrong that I have my phone next to me while watching is not really the issue here. Lets move on.
What I couldn't understand was the obvious effort of MGM Studios to cross-promote "Hot Tub Time Machine" during that hour of LOST. I counted at least 4 HTTM trailers during the one-hour episode. Does this seem ridiculous to anyone else? Is someone going to get fired for this?
On one hand you have the most enigmatic television show of my generation, replete with an insane amount of backstory, allusion and allegory such that it takes some bloggers 12-15 hours to prepare a review of each episode.
On the other hand you have a Hot Tub. Which is also a time machine.
Was the ad time on the CW all booked up?
I mean, I guess if I had to, I get it. Both LOST and HTTM have elements of time travel. Last season, LOST skipped through time like a broken record, while HTTM travels back to a "Hot Dog: The Movie" 1980's ski resort set. Both LOST and HTTM quite possibly (based on one trailer) are tales of redemption. And they each deal with death in the own ways - LOST in the form of Dogen's demise and John Cusack's career as a result of HTTM.
I think that's where the similarities stop. Really, its almost offensive to the 13+ Million viewers of LOST to suggest that we would be intrigued by the HTTM trailer.
Its like a waiter at Custom House recommending the Mountain Dew to pair with your steak. Its just ridiculous and one of the biggest marketing 'misses' I have been privy to.
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