Sex addiction can mess up your advertising

The Showtime series Californication gets this week's prize for most inopportune tagline. Given David Duchovny's trip to rehab for sex addiction, the line "He's in way too deep" could refer more to his troubles than his character's. And considering the nature of the show, some viewers have even been left to wonder if the rehab thing is a PR gambit by Showtime ahead of Californication's second season. (That seems unlikely, but Showtime has posted a video to its YouTube channel titled "Are you addicted to porn?" Though not in reference to Duchovny.) In general, sex addiction is tough to build marketing materials around. But that hasn't stopped the distributors of Choke, an upcoming film about a sex addict, from trying their hardest. To the dismay of some patrons, they've been handing out anal beads at some preview screenings.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 10, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under David Duchovny, Nudd, Showtime

Duchovny now taking whatever he's given

With the shockingly poor box-office performance of The X-Files: I Want to Believe killing off the last vestige of his '90s superstardom (Californication doesn't count—no one watches that!), David Duchovny needed a fallback position. And he’s found it, appearing in Toth Brand Imaging’s upcoming national print campaign for sportswear company Johnston & Murphy. D.D. joins B-listers Ziggy Marley, BMX rider Mat Hoffman and ex-football player Tiki Barber as J&M pitchmen. The text of the ads reads, “Johnston, Murphy & Duchovny,” just in case people don’t recognize the not-so-gracefully aging former anchor of Fox’s Sunday night lineup. Mass acclaim, global recognition and big endorsements are still out there, but the truth is, it could take a self-deprecating “elder statesman” role on an HBO drama or—sigh—the “Daddy” part on a CW sitcom to jump-start any Shatner-esque comeback. On the plus side, Gillian Anderson’s still hot!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on July 31, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under David Duchovny, Gianatasio

Fox asking for it with 'X-Files' movie title

Is I Want to Believe a marketable title? Fox apparently thinks so, because the upcoming X-Files movie will be called The X-Files: I Want to Believe, using a line which, as fans well know, was emblazoned on a UFO poster in Fox Mulder’s office during the run of the TV series. This is the teaser poster shown here. Promotional efforts will borrow a concept from the 7-Eleven/Kwik-E-Mart Simpsons tie-in. On the day I Want to Believe premieres, all male agents at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., will wear alien masks and go shirtless (David Duchovny loved baring his abs and pecs back in the day), and all female operatives will don red wigs, à la Gillian Anderson’s Dana Scully. Am I making this up? The truth is out there, people!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on April 17, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under David Duchovny, Gianatasio