Japan: Moving Beyond a TV Drama Production · Global Voices
There are some television shows that become fashion trend setters (à la Sex and the City) but what would you think if a show was designed as a vehicle to sell clothes?
With television stations in a financial slump with shrinking advertising revenues, Kansai Television is experimenting with a new take on product placement. Viewers are offered the chance to buy apparel and accessories showcased in the fashion drama Real Clothes [ja], which features popular actresses <PERSON> and <PERSON>.
A summary of the show from Tokyo Graph:
The drama is based on <PERSON> manga of the same name. <PERSON> plays the role of <PERSON>, a saleswoman in the futon section of a department store. Despite her plain clothes and poor makeup, she ends up being transferred to the women's clothing department, where she has to be trained by her extraordinarily fashionable boss (<PERSON>).
The RedPen blog gives a rundown of the system in a post titled “The border between advertisement and content is breaking down with ‘Real Clothes'” (崩れ始める広告とコンテンツの境界線、「リアル・クローズ」):
フジテレビは2009年10月13日（22:10～）より、関西テレビ制作のドラマ「リアル・クローズ」の放映を開始します。放送と同時に俳優が身につけている服やアクセサリーをネット経由で購入できる、いわゆるEC連動型番組ですが、公共電波を独占的、排他的に利用しているテレビ局のあこぎな商売として非難する声も上がっています。（参照：「主役が着た服、ドラマＨＰで即通販 番組？広告？境界は」）
Fuji TV will start broadcasting Kansai TV's “Real Clothes” from 22:10 on October 13th. 243
It's an e-commerce program where viewers can go online and purchase the clothing and accessories that the actors wear on the show. There's outcry about this being the monopolistic and exclusive usage of public airwaves for commercial purposes by a television station.
リアル・クローズは電子番組表Gガイドを提供するインタラクティブ・プログラム・ガイドが開発したシステム「オンエアリンク」利用の第一号。出演者が着用した衣装やアクセサリーなどのアイテムや商品がテレビ番組のストーリーに連動して、ECサイトにアップされ、オンタイムで同じ商品が購入できるシステムです。出演者が着用している商品情報と番組メタデータをデータベース上でひも付け、タイムコードに合わせて配信・管理できます。
Real Clothes is the first practical application of the interactive program guide system “On Air Link”, which is developed by Interactive Program Guide, the creators of the electronic TV listings “G Guide”. The items worn by the actors are pushed to the e-commerce site and viewers can buy them while the show is being aired. Product information and program metadata are linked within the database and the system allows for information distribution and management in accordance to a time code. 618