Advertising Age - The Emmys

I recently finished reading Simon Dumenco's humorous account of various Emmy campaign mailings. In short, he described these mailings as desperate, uninformative, and sometimes just plain tacky. I couldn't agree with him more. The tactics some campaigners took reminded me of politicians, only worse - a lot worse. At least politicians tend to include some type of information about WHY they think you should vote for them. These Emmy campaigns included cheesy packaging, cliché notes, and lots of free stuff. The Emmys, in my opinion, should be awarded to those with the best acting performance, not to the one who simply can mail out the most goodies to the voters.

The point Dumenco made in the article, however, provided a great explanation. Award shows in general, let alone the Emmys, are beginning to lose popularity amongst viewers. The scheduling of the awards show, according to experts, couldn't have been made at a worse time. So although campaigners were reduced to near tele-marketer status, one may still be able to sympathize with the challenges associated with the widespread lack of interest.