Google will launch tomorrow a new online series sponsored by Burger King that features “animated webisodes” created by Seth MacFarlane (of Fox’s “The Family Guy”). Google will be promoting the series via its YouTube service as well as on its Adsense Content Network. Burger King gets its logo and mascot in a spot. Google says, notes one online publication, that its Adsense network will only target “18 to 34” year old men. The same report explained that “Burger King gets a direct line into its consumers, who find these nuggets of entertainment where Google might otherwise post ads. Google says this is its biggest-ever deal using the Google Ad Network to distribute and monetize content. I spoke to Alexandra Levy, the director of Google’s relatively new Branded Entertainment division. The idea is that Google has all this inventory and access and branded entertainment may prove a more compelling way to communicate an advertiser’s message.”
For the folks at Google to empower Burger King ads during the current youth obesity crisis is poor judgement on its part. Google isn’t alone, however. Microsoft, Yahoo and others are also backing the digital targeting of young people with unhealthy food and beverage products. Google should think more carefully about the consequences to the nation’s health from the products it promotes (and also consider what will eventually happen to its brand reputation).
