And the Brand Played On

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As noted in previous Spins, the movie "InnerState" was bankrolled by Johnson & Johnson to promote a drug produced by its biopharmaceutical unit, Centocor. But J&J isn't alone. The Fireman's Fund, along with its PR firm, Ketchum, "brokered a deal with the History Channel for its 'Into the Fire' in 2006." The TV movie was geared to show that "post-9/11, firemen's services are basically under-funded," said Mark Owens of Ketchum Entertainment Marketing. "We didn't set up to make a documentary about the brand. ... If it were a preachy story about what the brand was doing, it wouldn't work." Owens said that although TV movies get better numbers -- "Into the Fire" was watched by three million people -- "showing a corporate documentary in a theater is a 'Holy Grail for what a brand would like to have. It is prestigious and has a great sound and feel.'"