Calvin's Blog

On a typical weekday night I spend part of my evening watching one of my favorite sitcoms, Two Half Men. The other day there was an episode of the show that was quite different than the typical episode in terms of content and style. It was a cross over episode with CSI in which the forensic police team investigates a murder scene at the main character’s house with, of course, a comedic twist to it.

Going back to Thursday’s lecture about cross promotion, this episode of “Two and a Half Men” provides a good example of co-branding whereby the producers of both Two and Half Men and CSI have come together to create a new product, being the hybrid episode of the former. One could argue that this may not be considered co-branding since it is still an episode of Two and a Half Men. However, I consider this to be co-branding because although it is under the name of two and a half men, it isn’t the same show that viewers are used to watching. There are aspects of CSI shown throughout the show that make it very different from any other episode of the sitcom. In other words, this is co-branding because the two show have come together and have created a CSI version of Two and a Half Men.

At the time of the release, there has also been extensive promotion of this cross over episode on the broadcasting network in the form of television advertisements. It is difficult for the production companies to find other source of promotion that would reach their target audience and they both probably shared the costs of creating the commercial and the costs of airing it

All in all I believe that this hybrid episode benefited both Two and a Half Men and CSI. Two and a Half Men was able to diversify its content and expand in terms of new comedic material. And CSI was able to gain more exposure through the fan base of Two and a Half Men. Most likely what happened as a result of this cross over was that a lot of Two and a Half Men fans are now CSI fans and a lot of CSI fans are now Two and Half Men fans.

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