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'Catch VD': Does the new 'Vampire Diaries' ad campaign send the wrong message?
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When we spotted the "Catch VD" billboard looming over Sunset Blvd on our way home from the Zap2it offices this week, we joked that it might be a "Vampire Diaries" marketing campaign. We didn't think we'd actually be right.In case you didn't know, VD generally stands for Venereal Disease, which is what people our parents' age used to call STDs.
We're not sure what generation The CW's marketing department is trying to target. Probably the Parents' Television Council, who have been paying a little too much attention to MTV lately. Maybe The CW got jealous?
EW learned today that approaching the Jan. 27 "Vampire Diaries" premiere, the blank billboards will be replaced with giant photos of series leads Paul Wesley, Nina Dobrev, and Ian Somerhalder sweaty and tangled together in bed, like the photo below.
Yeah... we don't care how crazy hot Paul, Nina, and Ian are. Even they can't make chlamydia sexy. Had the "Catch VD" posters popped up during the first season of the show, we might have been amused. A year and a half later, though, the joke is already tired. We've all heard it -- again, mostly from our parents, who found it totally hilarious -- and moved on from there. Fans on Twitter and blogs refer to it as "TVD," not "VD."
Plus, it's kind of... yucky, for lack of a more adult term. In West Hollywood, which is chock-full of ads and billboards encouraging young people to get tested and protect themselves, the "Catch VD" sign feels like it's just trying to be shocking for the sake of being shocking.
The majority of fan response we've seen has been negative. Some find it tasteless, some find it offensive, some find it sends the wrong message to those delicate teenage minds who might just start thinking that burning, itching feeling will make them more attractive to a vampire. Some just plain don't get it.
When asked for comment, the CW says, "VD simply stands for 'Vampire Diaries,' and anyone who thinks otherwise should probably get themselves checked out."
Oh. How clever.
Your move, PTC. You know, when you get bored of those "Skins" kids.
Vamp fans, chime in in the comments below. Did you laugh? Did you grimace? Did you look up "VD"?
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Photo/Video credit: Tierney Bricker
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Am I the only one that found these ACTUALLY kind of funny?
Either that or my sense of humor is awful.
Am I the only person who found this ad actually funny?
Either that or my sense of humor is actually terrible.
It was all to get people talking and obviouly it worked. More more more more free free advertising for "VD" LOL.
People that think it means Veneral Disease should be dead by now. We are all grownups here and our kids even know that it means Vampire Diaries...duh.
We do get the joke. But, this is tacky! I just hope The Vampire Diaries isn't turning into Gossip Girl, 90210, Jersey Shore (although one episode was good) and Skins, which should have stayed in England. The real one at fault was Fox, for putting a little Reality Competition Show, called American Idol and wrecking the CW's top show's ratings. I am SICK and TIRED of Fox raining on my tube parade!!
LOL. This reminds me of a video I seen on youtube where Ian was walking through the airport and and the paparazzi was asking about Vampire Diaries. He said something like who would have thought catching VD would ever be a good thing. LMAO.
I personally always thought that the initials of Vampire Diaries was close to "VD" and I was always glad that fans aways use "TVD" instead of "VD".
The promotional Department really should have thought more about what they were doing. Fans of the Vampire Diaries would kind of know what that means, but what about non-fans? They won't understand what the billboards mean because there is no explanation. In the world today where diseases are running rapid, they really should have been more cautious with their advertisement.
They were trying to play on words like GG does brilliantly with OMFGG and it failed. Major fail close to epic fail. cause even I with my ****** humor found this dumb.
The joke was lame as there is nothing sexy about VD. I don't care if David Beckham was on the poster
It also doesn't help that it looks like True Blood's lettering and coloring either.
way to set yourselves apart as dumbest ad ever.
Tacky marketing for a tremendous show that doesn't deserve it. The marketing firm can do better than this.
I think you're right, it might have been clever when the show first started but it's pretty much always referred to as TVD now, so it's just kind of lame.
From the original poster, how is anyone suppose to know that they are talking about Vampire Diaries. CW clearly forgot only 3 million people actually watch the damn show.
I'm really getting tired of all the hoopla about the "VD" advertising promos. Are any of you actually professional advertising managers for a major network? Do you know that if you Google "VD" it will pull up Vampire Diaries? Did you know that there is a web site with acronyms that list Vampire Diaries ia VD along with VD for Veterens Day, Voltage Detector, etc? Give the CW some credit. And grow up people. The younger crowd aren't the ones complaining. They have learned not to judge others and to accept what they cannot change. WORDS OF WISDOM.