Fox thinks there’s something fishy about NBC’s new season promotions. Members of Fox’s on-air promo department noticed what they consider striking similarities between their efforts last year and NBC’s this year, so they promptly cut a tape comparing one with the other. The NBC promos for shows such as “Las Vegas” and “ER” feature the same quick cuts, revolving camera motion, text sliding across the screen and exploding fireworks in the background as Fox’s promos last year for shows like “Fastlane” and “Girls Club.” “It’s very flattering that another network appreciates our creative concepts, but their execution is of lesser quality,” sniffed Roberta Mell, Fox’s exec VP, marketing. “However, if this continues, we’ll have to send them a bill.”
NBC executives scoffed at the idea. “Why would the No. 1 network want to copy the No. 4 network?” asked Vince Manze, co-president and creative director, The NBC Agency.
Blink thinks they are both reminiscent of The WB’s 1999 “Faces of The WB” campaign, with the backlighting on studio sets and focus on the stars’ faces. And they all borrowed from the hyper editing first seen in the ’80s on Michael Mann’s “Miami Vice” and the sparks raining down from Barry Levinson’s 1984 movie “The Natural.”