It’s that time of year again, when I sit back and enjoy the best examples of smart network scheduling and smart corporate branding, comingled into one viewing experience. There is no more carefully managed series on television than NBC’s America’s Got Talent, which next week will conclude its 14th season as a summer smash. And not since the ‘50s, when stars would appear on camera promoting their sponsors’ products before or after telecasts of their programs, has there been as impactful an in-show advertising strategy as that of Dunkin,’ whose logo has become synonymous with AGT. (Dunkin’ until recently was known as Dunkin’ Donuts, but the word Donuts has disappeared from its stores and its advertising and remains only in the company’s long-established url, dunkindonuts.com.) Seriously, if you ate a munchkin every time you heard or saw the word Dunkin’ during an AGT telecast you would slip into a diabetic coma by episode’s end.
"AGT" Still Runs on Dunkin'
