| COAST TO COAST 09.30.08 11:32 AM |
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| Pie Pushers |
| To build buzz for the second season of Pushing Daisies, ABC drove a replica of the show's set across the U.S., passing out free pie along with a reminder of the premiere. |
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FROM NEW YORK With the sophomore season of Pushing Daisies premiering nine months after its first outing was shortened by the writers strike, ABC’s marketing team needed a way to reacquaint the public with the network’s quirky comedy. The result was a 10 city, cross-country pie giveaway that reached the end of its road trip in New York this week.
Winding its way through Anaheim, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Denver, Dallas, Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York, ABC's “Touch of Wonder Tour” spent the past month evangelizing Pushing Daisies. Operating out of an Airstream trailer designed to look like the Pie Hole—the fictional pie shop that serves as the backdrop for much of the series—staffers treated visitors to complimentary slices of apple and blueberry pie and peach cobbler. |
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PHOTO GALLERY |
 | The Times Square location brought the Daisies trailer a clientele of morning commuters and tourists checking out ABC's Good Morning America studios.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | For visitors too busy to pause for baked goods, tour staffers passed out Pushing Daisies kitchen utensils like spatulas and pie cutters.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | The tour made one of its California stops at Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade, where shoppers received the free desserts throughout the afternoon.
Photo: Courtesy of ABC |
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 | Staff handed out branded takeout boxes with the show's time slot and premiere date for visitors who wanted pie to go.
Photo: Courtesy of ABC |
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 | The Chicago stop of the tour landed in Lincoln Park.
Photo: Courtesy of ABC |
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 | Tour staff handed out balloons to children who stopped by the Airstream with their parents.
Photo: Courtesy of ABC |
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Swag was also in plentiful supply. In addition to balloons and magnets, Pushing Daisies kitchen utensils like spatulas and pie cutters were passed out to visitors. Sporadic rounds of Daises trivia run by the staff gave familiar fans the opportunity to win copies of the first season on DVD.
The idea for the promotion came about quite easily. ABC vice president of advertising and marketing Darren Schillace—who we interviewed last week about marketing the new fall season—and his team knew they wanted to do something with pie, and after a little brainstorming, settled on the idea of a traveling Pie Hole. Branding and design firm Image Factory, based in Calabasas, California, came onboard to help with design and production, and then the rest was left to the pies.
“We never knew people would be so crazy about free pie,” Schillace said. “It’s been an amazing response, to the point where we’ve been running out of pie before the end of the day.”
A coalition of fan bloggers and interested media have already given the events more publicity than Schillace said ABC had hoped for, and, as of now, New York has maintained that momentum of the “Experience the Wonder” tour. Monday morning ABC representatives confirmed they’d be sticking around for one last day of free desserts in Midtown today.
—Michael O'Connell
RELATED TOPICS
ABC, Pushing Daisies
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