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I have never really understood why Americans sing God Bless America before sporting events. It’s kinda Stephen Baldwin to the Star Bangled Banner’s Alec – related but not nearly as important in the grand scheme of things.

Well, Glee’s Lea Michelle (who I always want to call Michelle Lea) sang it the other night at that football game. Fair enough. Until you think about it.

It wasn’t a song.
It wasn’t a pre-game ritual.
It was an ad.

The game’s broadcaster, Fox, was airing a special episode of Glee immediately following the game and Michele’s presence certainly helped promote the show.

Fox sells content to advertisers. That’s their business. That’s their product. The more viewers they get, the more they charge advertisers and the more money they make. So Michele’s presence was nothing more than a carefully orchestrated in-game commercial to get as many Super Bowl viewers to hang around for the post-game Thriller Glee-fest.

And you know what? I love it.

Somehow, Fox managed to create a 360, integrated campaign that featured branded content, an experiential event, unofficial sponsorship, credible in-game mentions, and traditional 30 second spots leading up to the big product launch… um….I mean.. show.

Most importantly, it worked.

Glee scored 27 million viewers for the episode. That’s the most ever.

There’s a lot that us ad folk can learn from the networks. They get it. They created a Thriller and brilliantly got people to buy.
My only question: What were the Link scores?

Tune in tomorrow when I’ll address Rogers media presence in Canada. Here’s a hint: I don’t think they’re evil.