10 Items or Less, Brought To You Commercial Free
Tonight was the premiere of season 3 of 10 Items or Less on TBS. I've never seen any of the other episodes, so I thought I would give it a try. The commercials for the premiere looked funny. The show is a partly scripted and partly improvised comedy series. The series is about Lehr, who is a less than successful businessman, who returns home to run Greens & Grains, the family-owned supermarket, upon the death of his father.
Tonight's episode revolved around a game of turkey bowling in the supermarket. As amazing and fun as that sounds, what really caught my attention was the blatant and absurd product placement throughout the episode, which was so ridiculous that you couldn't help but find funny. Oh, I forgot to mention that the premiere was "commercial free."
For the season premiere, Unilever is presenting the 30-minute sitcom commercial-free and hawking its Vaseline Man and Hellman’s Light products. Star and co-creator John Lehr, who plays grocery-store owner Leslie Pool, is seen extolling the virtues of both products during key moments of the show with a self-aware, over-the-top delivery reminiscent of clueless boss Michael Scott, played by Steve Carell, on NBC’s The Office.
The common thread for all these real-life products is Unilever, the package-goods company that has partnered with Turner Entertainment’s sales and marketing group through the years on a series of commercial-busting branded-entertainment projects, including 10 Items or Less integrations and short-form series such as 2006’s Love Bites for Sunsilk hair products.
Since the premiere is also being presented commercial-free, Lehr appeared in a pair of network promos on TBS and TNT. In one ad, he’s seen with bottles of Hellmann’s and Vaseline Man strapped to his shoulders, exclaiming, “It’s such a relief to be able to do TV without commercials!”
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