Daytime soap operas embedded testimonials by trusted story characters directly into plots

Evidence

The methods used in daytime radio were more overt than those of prime time. The most respected and trusted characters would testify during the show about the merits of, say, Pillsbury’s new cake mixes. In one episode of the soap opera Today’s Children, for example, the trusted housewife character, “traditional but open to modern ideas,” visits Pillsbury’s kitchen. She exclaims, “The thing that impressed me so much was the orderliness of the kitchen—jest like my kitchen.” Of Pillsbury she said, “They’re always makin’ and testin’ new recipes…they served this cake at luncheon—never have put anythin’ in my mouth so delicious…I got the recipe.” — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 328

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘trusted character as product shill’ technique is the direct ancestor of influencer marketing and native advertising today. — connects to: Daytime soap operas colonized homemakers’ free time as advertising vehicles — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 327; Social modeling via serial dramas can drive large-scale behavior change

Broader Connections

• Social modeling via serial dramas can drive large-scale behavior change #expands (0.82)
• Daytime soap operas colonized homemakers’ free time as advertising vehicles #complicates (0.80) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 327