Wish you could score the fabulous Gucci bag Betty Suarez was given on the Jan. 4 episode of “Ugly Betty”?
You can, but you’ll have to pay for it. A real Gucci 85th Anniversary Hobo bag is a mere $1,595. How about that black wool coat worn by Dr. Burke on the Nov. 23 episode of “Grey’s Anatomy”? It’s a Calvin Klein, and it’s available for $239.99 in sizes S, M, L and XL.
In fact, a ton of products–and not just clothing–seen on TV shows can be purchased online. Those slip-on Chuck Taylors that Dave was sporting on “What About Brian.” The sexy Diane von Furstenberg slacks worn by Delinda Deline on “Las Vegas.”
Or let’s say you took a liking to the sporty Maserati driven by Gabrielle Solis, one of the “Desperate Housewives.” It’s a 2005 Spyder, and with a few clicks of a mouse–and about $88,000–you can have one just like it.
If TV is becoming “one giant catalog,” as an expert recently put it, then the new Web site seenon.com is the door to a shopping orgy for fans who don’t just want to watch their favorite characters. It’s for those who want to dress like them, smell like them, drive like them and be surrounded by their possessions, right down to the colors on the walls. (Desperate housewife Bree Van De Kamp uses Benjamin Moore’s Durango Dust, Wickham Grey and Wythe Blue in the interior of her home. A sample pack of those paint colors, along with her exterior Phillipsburg Blue and some accessories, can be had for $25.)
“It’s cool,” said Michelle Jeffries, a 24-year-old Californian who bought the same cute jeans Izzie wore on “Grey’s Anatomy.” “It’s like in the magazines–‘to achieve this look,’ and then it’s all right there for you.”
SeenOn launched in late November. It is a division of Delivery Agent Inc., which since 2002 has brokered deals with networks, movie studios and other media outlets to provide a link between thousands of products characters use on-screen and consumers eager to buy them.
Like the shopping features provided online by AOL and Yahoo, SeenOn offers a wide variety of products. According to Delivery Agent founder and Chief Executive Mike Fitzsimmons, the company has 35 branded sites that it manages, including online stores for many networks, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and film studios such as Lionsgate and Miramax. The new Web site, he says, simply gives shoppers “one centralized destination” that links to the 35 sites.
For decades, fans could buy “Cheers” T-shirts or “CBS Evening News” coffee mugs or “Miami Vice” baseball caps. But Fitzsimmons’ idea takes that much further, allowing you to buy the clothes the stars are wearing and the furniture they’re sitting on.
You can even buy the house, so to speak. That Airstream trailer Dr. McDreamy lives in? It, too, is available after a few clicks. Sadly, when it arrives, there is no McDreamy inside.
WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET
1. Wilhelmina’s Nicole Miller Jacket from “Ugly Betty.”
2. McDreamy’s Cabelas Lufkin Flats Fly-Fishing Vest from “Grey’s Anatomy.”
3. Gaby’s Heavenly Hostess pink and green “Joy” apron from “Desperate Housewives”
4. Betty’s 85th Anniversary Gucci hobo bag and Christina’s Nanette Lepore jacket from “Ugly Betty.”
5. Danny McCoy’s Hugo Boss suit from “Las Vegas.”
6. Cafe Au Fait Circle necklace from “Grey’s Anatomy.”
7. Gaby’s Maserati Spyder from “Desperate Housewives”
8. Dwight Schrute’s poster magnet from “The Office.”
9. McDreamy’s Airstream trailer from “Grey’s Anatomy.”
HOW SEENON WORKS
Product placement–when vendors and manufacturers pay film studios and TV production companies to prominently feature items–has been around for decades, but that’s not what’s happening at the SeenOn Web site. This works the other way around: TV designers choose which wardrobe and furnishings they will use, and the manufacturers agree to make those items available to the public via cyberspace.
To make that happen, stylists and costume/production designers feed manufacturer names and model numbers to Delivery Agent, the company behind SeenOn.
Delivery Agent then uses its own research to estimate demand for individual items. Its merchandising team then purchases stock from the vendor or manufacturer at wholesale. Priced at retail, products go up on the Web almost immediately after a show airs; Delivery Agent processes the orders and arranges the shipping. Everybody involved–the production company, the studio, the broadcaster and Delivery Agent–gets a cut of the profit.
[W.P.]
