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Product character program

TechToon has come up with an innovative program for corporate partners. Participating companies may be able to have their products become characters in the the comic strip!

The deal is that we love to poke fun at real people and real products in TechToon. You may see our lead character, Lexi, drink Starbucks coffee because she enjoys it, and there’s a Starbucks near her house. The family’s pet robot, Chip, is based on a real robotic toy by WowWee. The Ludlow family plays Guitar Hero.

This is not the typical “product placement” you’ve seen before. Coca-Cola pays American Idol lots of money to have branded cups sitting conspicuously on the judges’ table. Buick pays Desperate Housewives to have the show’s characters drive their cars.

TechToon treats products differently. When we work with an (appropriate) advertiser, we work its product into the plot line. Per our agreement, we will create a comic strip where your product is a star of that strip, with a joke about it that we write.

Here’s the rub: You don’t get any say in the strip. We’ll make fun of your product (but not maliciously). And there’s really no other way to do this. If we let advertisers dictate the humor in the comic strip, readers would justifiably criticize and abandon TechToon. So we have editorial control. Our intent is to make our readers laugh, not to overtly sell your product.

What your company gets is an innovative, genuine media marketing opportunity that will get people buzzing about your product.

To discuss whether you have a product that’s appropriate for this program (your product may or may not be a good fit, and we won’t accept just anything for this program), please contact Steve Outing. Phone 303-543-7810. E-mail: steve@techtoon.com