Reality Check on Reality TV
by John Callegari
Published: October 22, 2010
Being featured on a reality TV show may seem like a golden opportunity for increased brand recognition. But as many Long Island business owners are finding out, expectations almost always exceed reality.
In June, the feel-good, hit ABC reality show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” came out to East Setauket to transform a family’s home into a dream house, with the help of several local businesses.
Only one business got any mention though – East Meadow-based Alure Home Improvement.
While Alure’s president, Sal Ferro, was featured heavily on the “Extreme Makeover” episode, which aired earlier this month, other businesses were pushed to the sidelines with, at most, a mere mention in the closing credits.
To be fair, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” never promised anyone any publicity, and due to the nature of the show, none of the businesses that got involved were terribly upset, each noting that it was more about the family and the spirit of volunteerism than getting exposure or additional business, but some expressed lingering feelings of disappointment.
Mike Benti and his staff at Ronkonkoma- based Dynamic Display provided the artwork wrapping for the bus featured on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Despite not being able to wrap the bus on the same site as the work that was going on – and where the cameras were rolling – Benti was in high spirits as ABC gave him the green light to do whatever he wanted, short of using the show’s logo and issuing a press release without prior approval.
Dynamic Display filmed the three-hour process of wrapping the bus and edited it to create “an ‘Orange County Choppers’-type video,” Benti said. The short clip was then put on YouTube, where it garnered almost 500 hits.
“People responded to the video very positively,” Benti said. “It was well-produced and we were really proud of the way it came out. Even ABC called and said it was great and that they really liked it.”
The network soon changed its mind, apparently, asking Benti to take down the video.
“[ABC] called back and said it was self-promotion and asked us to take it down,” Benti said. “Even though their marketing department liked the video because it cast them in a good light, their legal department said that we couldn’t use it because we were using their name for self-promotion. I was a little reluctant to take it down, but I also didn’t want to get hit with a cease-and-desist notice from their lawyers.”