BizBash | Events * Meetings * Marketing * Style * Strategy * Ideas

Burlington Covers Tracks for Stunt: Marketers still haven't recovered from the failure of Cartoon Network's 2007 Boston stunt, which infamously prompted the city to brace for a terrorist attack and included such fallout as network exec's resignation and a $1 million fine. In hopes of avoiding a similar stir when planting 500 unattended messenger bags around New York City last week, Burlington Coat Factory coordinated the stunt with local police to make sure nobody was caught off guard. They also made a concerted effort to keep all of the bags—each containing a gift card to the retailer's new "store in a store," the Factory—on pre-approved private property and monitored by event staff. Planners reportedly interviewed bloggers who covered the Boston incident to find out how to stay on the right track. [NYP]

Most-Watched Emmys Since 2006: Producer Don Mischer and host Neil Patrick Harris received most of the credit this week for a positively reviewed Emmy presentation and a highly watched telecast. Ratings were up to 13.3 million viewers for Sunday's show, a 1 million gain from last year's highly criticized outing. The 2009 show marks the biggest audience the Emmys have drawn since 2006, and many think the quicker pace of grouped awards—by comedy, reality, long-form, variety, and drama—made for a more accessible broadcast. [Variety] MORE >>

Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, CBS, Emmys, Neil Patrick Harris, Burlington Coat Factory, Cartoon Network, Paranormal Activity, Paramount

EVENT REPORT 05.21.09 6:13 PM

Upfront Report Card: Candy, Corn Dogs, and T-Pain Earn Adult Swim an A- From Media Buyers

T-Pain at the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim party
Photo: BizBash

The scene at Cartoon Network's Adult Swim party at Nokia Theater last night was reminiscent of Upfronts past. Drunken twentysomethings? Check. Inappropriate dancing among colleagues? Check. Open bar? Check. The debauchery ran so high, one might have thought it was 2004.

Following the afternoon's more sedate CBS party at Terminal 5, Adult Swim opened its free-flowing bars at 9 p.m. amid a circus-like atmosphere chock-full of interactive high jinks, from a pop-a-balloon contest that gave away DVDs of Cartoon Network shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force to photo booths and an arcade-style crane game that offered up branded fuzzy toys. The food front was also carnival-esque, with vintage-style booths hawking corn dogs, pizzas, peanuts, and hot dogs. MORE >>

Upfronts, Upfront Week, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network

NEWS 04.30.09 3:14 PM

Upfront Update: Who's Doing What During the TV Networks' Big Sales Week

The 2008 Fox upfront party
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash

Cable upfront presentations have been under way since mid-March, but May heralds the arrival of the network presentations, with their heavy delegations of out-of-town media buyers and—when it suits them—some fairly elaborate parties. Upfront Week itself is little more than two weeks off, starting with Fox on Monday, May 18, and concluding Thursday, May 21, with the CW. Although events look to be subdued once again, they’re looking up from 2008.

Last year NBC sent the already W.G.A. strike-addled upfront schedule into a tizzy by abandoning its long-established Monday presentation and opting for a series of meetings in early April. Sort of sticking to its guns, the network is still meeting with buyers early, but not as early as last year. After a small pitch at this year’s Super Bowl, NBC’s big sell takes place next week in its 30 Rockefeller headquarters, with a series of meetings and conference calls on May 4. MORE >>

Upfronts, Upfront Week, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, The CW, ESPN, Turner Entertianment, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim

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