The Black Donnellys: A New Place for Manly Products

So last night I was watching the second episode of the new series The Black Donnellys on NBC. I kind of found it accidentally last week and fell in love with it. It kind of reminds me of The Sopranos with a Boondock Saints twist. Basically, it's about 4 Irish brothers living in New York City. Since they were younger, they were always getting into trouble. The series follows them into adulthood where they are slowly getting themselves in trouble with the Italian mob. It's a little intense for TV but is softened by the love and loyalty the brothers have for each other. We learn that they would pretty much do anything to protect each other which is ironically what gets them all into trouble in the first place. Plus the main female character is Tommy's love interest Jenny. The two have liked each other since they were kids, but finding this out too late she is engaged to someone else. You might recognize Jenny as Alex from the O.C. who played both Marissa and Seth's girlfriend. How could you forget that one?

Most of the clear product placement in last night's episode were of products that would probably appeal to, and be recognized by, a male audience. All of the cars parked on the street were shown from a front angle with their logos prominently up front such as the red Ford Mustang parked outside the bar owned by the Donnellys. Also, the Donnelly's signature car is a beat up Ford van which is shown when Tommy and Kevin have to move a dead body from the bar's dumpster. To get even more morbid, Tommy enters a hardware store to buy a mallett to fit the body into a barrel- I'll spare the details. During this scene, a shelf full of Black and Decker tools are in the background. Lastly, in the bar scenes there are many shots of the fully stocked bar with liquor bottle labels facing forward. Unfortunately, I didn't have my glasses on and couldn't read the labels clearly, but it seemed like a product placement buffet. I'll be prepared for next week. Like ABC, NBC also streams full episodes of their shows on their Web site. So if you missed it last night you can watch it here. My advice is to DOO IT!