Oh, those wacky people in the ABC marketing department. First they decide to promote their hit Ugly Betty by launching a "Be Ugly '07" campaign. Now they've decided to promote their new comedy The Knights of Prosperity by "recruiting" people to join the Knights. This "recruitment" effort will be done via a viral campaign aimed at pre- and post-Christmas shoppers.

The press release from ABC (after the jump) pretty much explains the whole scheme, including wallet drops at shopping malls with Knights "membership cards" in them, "rock star receipts" given to random shoppers at Virgin Megastores and other places, and opportunities to grab cash in a Knights-sponsored money booth. This is all to promote the premiere of Knights on January 3 at 9 PM.

Of course, they could just promote the show by saying it's the funniest new pilot this season. But I guess the truth doesn't always help... just ask the producers of The Nine.

(S03E03) Michael Scott may act like a knucklehead most of the time, but say this for him--he will not go down without a fight.

You just knew that sooner or later Dwight would try to undermine Michael, and Angela's influencing of him to do something about the office finally pushed him to meet clandestinely with Jan. Despite Jan's dismay over Michael's "Movie Mondays" and other offbeat practices, she must have some feelings for him at some level, because she did warn Michael about Dwight instead of looking to replace him. Obviously, their "hookup" last season must have had some effect on her.

You know, I really don't like reality programming, but I'll consider a reality series that's only three-minutes long and features a house full of cats but no humans an agreeable compromise. Well, actually, it's not a "reality series" per se, it's more like a three-minute promotion for Meow Mix catfood on Animal Planet, but hey, let's not split (cat) hairs. The series, called Meow Mix House, debuts on June 16 during the 9 p.m. EST hour and will focus on a house filled with cats from animal shelters in New York and Los Angeles. They'll take part in competitions, and those who are voted off will be placed in a permanent home and receive a year's supply of Meow Mix. The winner, however, wil be given an executive job at Meow Mix. So yeah, it's essentially a commercial for Meow Mix, but it also reveals the importance of pet adoption. The cats will be given personalities, as well, through voiceovers. It should be both cuddly and adorable. The series will run for ten weeks, though it may not always run in the same timeslot.

Wow, what some people will do for, you know, whatever. A family in Atlanta were apparently approached by E! to have their home painted pink and affixed with both a sign for The Simple Life and E! Entertainment's exclamation mark logo as a way to promote the new season of The Simple Life: 'Til Death Do Us Part. I guess during this season Nicole and Paris play pretend mommies or something? Despite my personal aversion to reality shows and especially this particular reality show, the house has been attracting a lot of attention. Perhaps too much, actually, as it seems people have a nasty habit of ringing the doorbell late at night. I assume those making the late night visits were just lonely men who figured Paris had gotten lazy and decided to use the house as a means of luring suitors to her. You know, like her version of the Bat symbol. It's an honest mistake.

[via Billboardom]

The moving graphic in the lower left corner of my television screen has officially gotten out of hand (I think Adam would agree). Rather than just letters rolling in and out to tell me what's up next, it has become quite distracting. I realize that's the point: to get me to notice the crap in the corner, but I'd rather watch the show. Most recently, I was watching something on VH1, when a purple 'Z' actually whooshed up and covered the entire screen and then faded away to tease whatever the hell it was teasing. I don't even know what it was for, I just know it was too much! Also, on USA Network lately, Wynonna and Cowboy Troy keep dancing around in the lower lefthand corner of my screen to tell me about the upcoming season of Nashville Star. Conveniently, they kept popping up when subtitles were on the screen. Arrrgh! And, guess what? The network played promos for Nashville Star in every break. So, give me a break.

I guess this is the networks' way of getting around that pesky TiVo fast-forward that we're all so fond of.

If you've ever said, "they can't pay me enough to watch a soap opera" you might be interested to know that Procter and Gamble, the company that actually invented the genre in the early 1930s, is behind a promotion that will award viewers $500 for simply watching As The World Turns and Guiding Light. Well, you have to register at Daytime Dollars, and your special code has to match the code shown during the episode. But hey, even if you don't win, you can still lose yourself in the twisted plotlines and engaging stories. Will Samantha leave Brock? Will Danny find out about his baby brother, Stefan? Will Jerome and Barbara ever find their way out of the wicker pumpkin factory? Will I continue to make up characters and storylines and pretend I actually watch these shows? Who the heck knows? The promotion will run from March 13 to September 29.

[via Ad Pulp]

HBO understands the viral power of the internet and is apparently hoping to get in on it with a couple of online promotions for the upcoming season of The Sopranos, which starts March 12. First, it's paying Google to use its maps to identify certain parts of New Jersey where key parts of The Sopranos have happened (does that mean we'll know where Ralphie's head is buried?). Starting February 27th, all you'll have to do is go to Google and type in "Sopranos Map".

HBO.com is also planning an interactive game called Whack a Soprano.