…And here I was beginning to think that Nintendo didn’t even have a marketing department… It’s not recent news, but I was only made aware of it yesterday when I read an article in the paper about the moderate success that Are You Smarter Than A Canadian 5th Grader? is seeing. It would seem that just like The Wizard (see that movie, now!), the show is practically a commercial for Nintendo’s latest products, which are in this case the Wii and Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree. It even goes so far as to call the big $25,000 question the “Big Brain Academy Question”.

I’m not a big fan of product placement and corporate branding (if you hadn’t already guessed my leanings from the forum discussions…), and even though it’s Nintendo I’ve got to say that it still really annoys me. I might just watch it next week though, briefly, just to see how bad it is and possibly get in a laugh, since by reading the press release it seems pretty awful.

Also I want to see if my years of… er… “hard work” in school have made me smarter than a 10 year-old.

I sure hope so.

Check out the full press release after the break (from August 14th? Yikes, this is old news…). I do recommend you read it, or just watch the show, next Thursday at 9 on Global, because it makes the show sound hilariously full of corporate Nintendo-y goodness.

And yes, in answer to your question, I’m bored it’s a slow day for news.

TORONTO, Aug. 14 /CNW/ - As casting and production of Global Television’s
“Are You Smarter Than A Canadian 5th Grader?” gets underway for its Fall 2007
debut, a collaborative “dream team” has blazed a new trail in content
integration for promotion of Nintendo’s Big Brain Academy(TM): Wii Degree.
The team, including Nintendo of Canada Ltd, Starcom, CanWest MediaWorks,
Insight Productions and Mark Burnett Productions, has created an innovative
package of integration elements. Throughout the five special episodes of “Are
You Smarter Than A Canadian 5th Grader?”, fans nationwide will experience a
creative mix of campaign elements including program integration, product
placement, and associative branding, maximizing advertising opportunities
throughout the casting period and during the broadcast.

“Our goal was to find and build on the perfect opportunity for Nintendo
to reach its key demographic to encourage and guide families in the quest to
exercise their brains and smarts,” said Shauna Chan, Strategy Director,
Starcom. “We saw ‘Are You Smarter Than A Canadian 5th Grader?’ as a natural
fit with the Big Brain Academy(TM): Wii Degree and all it’s potential to reach
families in that crucial learning and interactive setting.”

As presenter of “The Global Television Canadian 5th Grader Kid-Casting”,
Nintendo’s Big Brain Academy(TM): Wii Degree will showcase a massive presence
at the children’s casting, including a Big Brain Academy Zone complete with
on-site Wii(TM) systems from Nintendo to allow kids and parents to interact
with the game in preparation for their auditions.

Throughout the Kid-Casting tour, globaltv.com will provide all of the
excitement of the show online by streaming updates from the Big Brain Academy
Warm Up Zone and providing a behind-the-scenes look at the casting process.
“We were immediately captivated when Starcom shared this strategic
opportunity with us,” said Nintendo of Canada vice-president and general
manager, Ron Bertram. “It’s been a great experience and we’re delighted to
showcase the social, competitive fun that Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree can
offer to Kid-Casting participants, the Grade 5 panellists, and to viewers all
across Canada during the broadcast.”

During the broadcast phase of “Are You Smarter Than A Canadian 5th
Grader?”, audiences nationwide will be introduced to the Nintendo program
through direct broadcast integration. For example, ‘5th Grader’s’ pivotal
$25,000 question will be branded the “Big Brain Academy Question”, and the
show will include other exciting hallmark features of the game.

“We are very pleased that all the partners understood the opportunity we
were looking to create and immediately shared the same vision for the
campaign,” said Gaye McDonald, Vice President, Marketing Ventures - Brand
Partnership, CanWest MediaWorks. “For CanWest, the real excitement came in the
incredibly collaborative, creative and trusting approach this team took,
allowing us to move very fast out of the gate to make creative and effective
decisions and roll out what we anticipate will be one of the premier campaigns
this year.”