Taking full advantage of its rights to air the Super Bowl on February 1, NBC Universal is employing some not-so-subtle marketing tactics to promote the television shows of its various networks. This weekend its cable channel USA touted the return of Burn Notice by handing out Nerf balls at sports bars across the country. The 10-city stunt targeting football fans—especially those out watching the NFC and AFC championship games—hit New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Detroit, Washington, Dallas, and Tampa.
Tapped by the network's marketing team, headed up by senior vice president of brand marketing and digital Alexandra Shapiro, the Michael Alan Group coordinated and produced the promotion, which used crews of girls in branded gear to distribute the free goodies. Burn Notice, now in its second season, centers around a freelance spy in Miami and so, to further capitalize on the promo, the teams also distributed information about USA Network's sweepstakes to win tickets to Super Bowl XLIV, which will be played in Miami in 2010.
