Lonelygirl15 Gets Her First Product Placement

If you haven’t heard enough about Lonelygirl15, get ready to hear some more! She’ll be staring in a small video in which she takes out a small pack of Ice Breakers Sours Gum. Walaa! Product placement on Youtube is here to stay. Some dialog ensues where the two boys in the car with her want some of the gum, but she only has three pieces left. So she stuffs them all in her mouth before anyone else can grab them.

Producer Greg Goodfried says that Hershey’s, the sponsor, will be eating that scene up. Goodfried says that Loneygirl15 gets 1.5 million views per week, or 300,000 to 400,000 per episode. While he wouldn’t say exactly how much Hershey’s is dishing out for the product placement, he confirmed that it was in the same range as what Diggnation gets from its sponsors (which is as much at $10,000 per show per sponsor). Says Goodfried:

It won’t make us rich by any means, but it helps cover the production costs. It’s cool for us because major brands are treating our show as a major media entertainment property.

Loneygirl15’s operating costs are about $40,000 a month, says Goodfried, which covers 10 employees (including the actors). Goodfried says he is in talks with more advertisers for future product placements and straight-up sponsorships.

Originally posted on Tuesday, March 20th, 2007
Marketing, Social Media.