Target "My Kind of Holiday"

There's a new holiday television advertising campaign that takes "program integration" to a new level.

The retailer Target has partnered with three abc programs -- The Middle, Back in the Game, and Modern Family -- to create a series of television spots that use characters from the three shows to weave a holiday story of gift giving.  Perfectly timed to run during the actual shows, to give an appearance of continuity from programming to commercial break.  So well done.

Here's the first part of the series, featuring The Middleclick here.  That character from The Middle just cracks me up!  Classic character acting, both on the show and in this piece of advertising.

And here's the second in the series, featuring the new show Back in the Game :  click here.  I'm imagining that the network is using the success of The Middle to try to build an audience for this new show.

Finally, my favorite of all with my favorite character from Modern Family, the little Frenchie:  click here.  That little dog is by far the best character on tv right now, in my humble but extremely biased opinion.

What I love about all of this is the creative partnering that is bringing new meaning to what could otherwise be considered standard fare holiday advertising.  Not necessarily the most creative advertising this season, but a great example of a network partnering with an advertiser to benefit both parties somewhat equally. 

What's your experience?  Jim.

PS - Full disclosure,  I am a Frenchie lover.  Here's a shot of my little Sophie ....