So you’ve bought your DVR or your Tivo, you’ve hooked it up, and you’re pumped that you can start fast forwarding through the ‘pesky’ commercials that interrupt your favorite shows. You no longer have to be exposed to the hard sells for that cell phone that they’ve shown the same commercial for every break or the chain restaurant that you just NEED to visit this weekend.

Yes! You now can enjoy exactly what you have a TV for. Bring on the uninterrupted entertainment!

Kind of.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed – but recently, those commercials that we try so hard to get away from have been jumping right into our shows, and we are impacted whether we like it or not. Although product placement has been around for quite some time, advertisers have been kicking it into high gear due to the competition of that fast forward button on our remote controls.

From reality shows to hour-long dramas, from sitcoms to talk shows, product commercials that we’re used to flipping through via that trusty little box that we’ve grown to love are popping up in the context of storylines. Michael Scott practically lives in the Chili’s restaurant down the street and all of the characters in the new hit, Flash Forward, have a Verizon Palm Pre; everyone’s drinking a coke on American Idol and the contestants on The Biggest Loser cannot get enough of the new Fiber One bar.

Just recently, the NBC sitcom, 30 Rock, pulled their fictional character, Dr. Spaceman, into a ‘commercial’ for Dr. Pepper that really could have been perceived as a part of the show. Without even mentioning 30 Rock or another character in it, advertisers gave viewers a reason to hit play the minute they saw the ‘doctor’, and even featured the 30 Rock score in the background of the ad, so they could take note of the random benefits of enjoying a Dr. Pepper.  Pretty sneaky, NBC…

People may identify advertising as a dying art. But I beg to differ. Advertising, my friends, is more of an evolving art – so sit back with your Tivo, and while fast forwarding through those commercials, accept the fact that you still may want to go to Chili’s after the show – and that’s okay – because all that matters is you still have your uninterrupted entertainment.

Kind of.

Mad Men returns with new episodes on AMC this weekend, thank goodness. Much has been written about this award-winning television show, given its writing, production quality, and overall level of brilliance.  And since it emanates from the advertising world of the transitional early Sixties, it has certainly attracted the attention of devotees and pundits from within the marketing community.

With any show set in the recent past, nostalgia is of course a key driver, an emotional hook (just ask the Kodak executives who experienced the Carousel branding pitch in Season One’s “The Wheel”).  And even though I am not old enough to have experienced working in 1962–or even living in 1962–I do find myself attracted to that period’s style and the appearance of a less-cluttered life.

Their worklife on the show feels less cluttered too, and there is something to be learned here.  When ECD Don Draper or another character is shown pitching to a client, whether it is Lucky Strike, Playtex, or Popsicle, the pitch always beautifully boils down to one key idea.  It’s Toasted.  It’s Marilyn and Jackie.  It’s a way to Share your Love.  The idea is the hero. This approach by the Mad Men writing staff of course serves their need to appeal to the viewing audience in a tight, dramatic fashion, especially when a vast portion of the viewership has little knowledge about how advertising is created. But it can also help remind those of us in the business that without a strategic idea that inspires and resonates, a campaign is dead, no matter how many new media and promotional executions one can pile on top of it in today’s uber-connected world.

Another significant strength of Mad Men is its use of theme.  Typically, several storylines involving different characters are advancing throughout the show, and at first seem unconnected.  But upon further reflection (often requiring a second viewing, at least for me), one will typically see that there are underlying themes being explored throughout the various storylines, such as fidelity, the societal role of 1960′s women, and discovery of one’s self.  These themes are often captured beautifully through symbolic episode titles.

The construction of these storylines and their common themes, all within the context of multi-episode story arcs is astounding, without forsaking the entertainment mission of television.  When discussing this aspect of the show with other fans, I typically find myself using the term “tight writing”, though this certainly doesn’t fully capture the achievement.

So too, should various channels and campaigns work together to support a common theme.  Advertising, promotions, public relations and an online presence should ultimately be built to advance the mission of the company and deliver upon the brand promise to its customer constituencies-though probably with lesser subtlety than the writing staff of Mad Men regularly employ.

Idea as hero.  Multiple parts moving tightly together to achieve a common goal.  These together are a strong marriage that will result in helping to connect people with brands.  And one that can serve all of us who work in marketing communications, no matter how Mad or not we are.

Are families as loyal to their favorite brands as they used to be? WGHP-TV FOX8 turned to Trone insights for the basis of this story.

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I like to think of myself as pretty smart when it comes to knowing the ways of broadcast television. I understand the manipulations that they put us through. And after being a news producer some years ago and a television, radio and video producer for over 10 years, I understand the use of editing, music, sound effects etc. and the power they have to drive emotions and actions.

So it may come as somewhat of a shock to those reading this to hear that I am so on the hook when it comes to certain television programming that calls itself reality TV. And while you will find me yelling at the television on occasion because I know that they’ve left most of the story on the cutting room floor (or in the digital library since there’s literally nothing left to cut and toss on the floor anymore), I also find myself completely immersed in the story and enjoying the drama as much as the next fan.

I ramble in particular about The Biggest Loser here. Come on, any show with loser in the name, just makes you want it and the people in it, to succeed. Not only does this program show you that with a little help, anyone can lose weight, get healthy and make a life change that takes them in a positive direction, it also inspires others to get off their rears and do something about the shape they’re in.

Now when this show started, I don’t think that anyone had any idea that it would result in the wave of positive change (and profit) that it has. Biggest Loser competitions take place all over the country, there’s a Biggest Loser Community on the website that includes blogs, unusual workouts and even a Twitter community. Biggest Loser books abound. So I guess that what started off as a reality show about morbidly obese people has turned into a community that really helps to empower others.

Last night I watched as two of the oldest contestants on the show won big both in cash and health. Jerry is no longer on the medications that he was a slave to when he started the show and Helen, all 48 years of her, lost 140 lbs. and transformed herself into a fabulous looking, healthy woman. So I ask you, can reality TV really be that bad if it does this much good?