Ugly "Wudi" Only Loves (Sponsored By) Dove Products
Filed under: Style in the News, Celebrities with Style
The opening credits for Ugly Wudi
Sure, all shows do some product placement. 30 Rock even makes a big joke of it, building it into the storyline. But Unilever has taken it to a ridiculous level in China. They aren't just doing product placement -- they own a whole show!
Unilever is the parent of Dove products, which were selling poorly in China under the "Campaign for Real Beauty." Rather than try a new campaign, their agency came up with the idea of producing a Chinese version of Ugly Betty -- Ugly "Wudi" -- who becomes beautiful by using Dove products.
(Wait, isn't the point of Ugly Betty about internal beauty?)
Anyway, as the exclusive sponsor, Unilever owns all of the commercials, all of the product placement, and even the script!
The show's star, Lin Wudi, gets gorgeous when, inspired by the ad campaign she is creating for Dove products, starts using them. The marketing team from Unilever managed to get 3,300 seconds of Dove brand into the first season of the show.
So what is this? A season long infomercial? Some kind of hybrid ad-tertainment? Genius marketing? Or an evil melange of all three?
Or is it just the future of ads and network television?
In the coming weeks and months, most of us will need to start bundling up before heading outdoors. And while that might cause flashbacks to snowpants and earmuffs for some of you, keep in mind that it is possible to stay warm in the freezing weather without looking like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, regardless of what your body looks like beneath your coat.
Each season brings a new It bag (or several, as the case may be). Some of these bags are incredibly expensive, which is fine if you can afford it, but most folks can't. Others are beautiful, but really, really trendy, so while they'll look great this season, next year you'll be sick of carrying it. 
