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Apple’s Glass Act for Severance Season 2
Plus, Meta Halts Paid Ads for Notes
Welcome to The TV Room. Your weekly digest of television, streaming, and digital media insights that matter.
This week we're covering:
💻 Apple Connects with Cubicle-TV
🏈 Super Bowl Sneak Peaks
🎥 Creative Spotlight: Nespresso: “The Detective”
📃 Meta Notes a No-Go on Paid Ads
“Severance” Staged a Grand Central Stunt
Apple TV+ turned heads at Grand Central Terminal last week with a bold marketing move for Severance season 2. The show's stars Adam Scott, Britt Lower, and Zach Cherry performed their actual office roles inside a glass cube, recreating the show's eerie workplace environment in real-time.
The stunt captured massive attention on social media, with one tweet reaching nearly 200,000 likes - but the marketing campaign extended beyond the physical installation. On LinkedIn, a parody Lumon Industries account (the show's fictional evil corporation) has built 21,000 followers by posting corporate-speak that perfectly mocks tech company culture.
The glass cube installation brilliantly played into the show's themes:
Actors performed mundane office tasks on retro-futuristic computers
Patricia Arquette and Tramell Tillman made appearances as their managerial characters
The transparent walls echoed the show's commentary on workplace surveillance
Even director Ben Stiller showed up to snap photos like a proud parent
The stunt hit just ahead of the season 2 premiere on January 17, following a two-year wait. The new season explores what happens after the characters' work and personal lives start bleeding together, with their "innies" becoming unlikely celebrities.
For a show about the horrors of corporate America, staging a performance in the heart of Manhattan's business district proved a masterful marketing move.
Read More:
🎙️ Jason Fairchild on Performance TV
In this episode, Jason Fairchild, CEO and co-founder of tvScientific, talks about lessons from OpenX, creating the performance TV category, and whether big players like The Trade Desk and AppLovin might enter the space.
Jason shares how CTV can shift ad dollars from search and social by focusing on transparency and measurable outcomes, while exploring the challenges of building a new adtech category and the future of CTV advertising.
What You’ll Learn:
📊 Shifting Ad Dollars: How tvScientific is moving budgets from search and social to CTV.
🖥️ Transparent Results: Why advanced attribution tools matter for advertisers.
📈 The Future of CTV: How brand and performance advertising are converging on CTV.
TV Industry Updates
Telehealth's ad surge: Telehealth companies doubled their TV ad spending in the past two years, venturing into complex medicine.
Roku boost: JMP Securities started coverage of Roku with a $98 price target, as TV ad dollars shift to streaming platforms.
Super Bowl ads on their way: Brands revealed their Super Bowl 2025 commercials ahead of the Feb 9 game.
Streaming soars: YouTube captured a record 11.1% of TV viewing in December as streaming climbed to 43.3%.
Stay up to date on the latest in TV advertising by joining our Slack community!
Creative Spotlight: Nespresso: “The Detective”
Nespresso launched a star-studded ad campaign featuring George Clooney as a detective investigating a coffee heist.
The Details:
The ad followed a whodunit storyline, with Clooney interrogating suspects to uncover who stole the precious Nespresso coffees.
Suspects included a chef played by Eva Longoria and a sous-chef portrayed by Camille Cottin.
Korean actress Kim Go Eun also made an appearance in the international cast.
What We Loved: Nespresso's clever use of a mystery narrative and A-list talent created an engaging and memorable ad that stood out from typical coffee commercials. Instead of telling the audience how great the flavor and aroma are, Nespresso had A-listers act it out.
Marketing Mix
Community Notes update: Meta announced paid ads will not display Community Notes, unlike X's approach which allows fact-checking on all posts.
Airport ad network: WHSmith launched a retail media network across 340+ North American airport shops, with Bose and Pepsi as early advertisers.
TikTok shuffle: Small businesses and creators that have relied on TikTok for marketing are diversifying their reach ahead of the platform’s uncertain future.
Verizon's sports play: Verizon partnered with basketball star Paige Bueckers and other NIL athletes to revamp its sports marketing strategy.
The TV Room is your go-to source for staying ahead in the world of television and digital media. Want to chat about these stories with other industry pros? Join our Slack channel to continue the conversation.