As people took their seats for the top of act one, the traditional announcement came on about turning off cell phones and unwrapping any candy you may have (and at a Sunday Matinee where I was easily the youngest person in the theater by 30 years, there were a lot of Werther’s Originals to be had). At the end of the announcement the man said “this announcement is brought to you by Dentyne.”

Huh? What was that? This has been the first time I have ever heard of a company advertising in the pre-show announcement. People around me were asking if that was a joke. I also wondered if it was a joke but the print out in the Playbill was also sponsored by Dentyne.

First, I am curious to know how long this promotion will run and how much something like this costs. I have never heard of something like this done before so I would like to know the details behind the promotion. Also, this is kind of a great way to use promotions without sacrificing your show to product placement or commercials/previews before a show. What else can you sell to companies besides the pre-show announcement? There is the intermission, the announcement before the second act?

I don’t think that this Dentyne promotions is necessarily a bad thing, I mean it must work since everyone in the theater was listening and talking about it, and this type of promotion may actually help Broadway out through this tough economic time (and the extra cash may lower ticket prices…?). I wonder if shows will pick up on it.

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