Ugly Betty, Diet Coke, And Puppets!

You folks in the UK who watch Ugly Betty might have already seen this, but most of us in the US (outside of advertising insiders) have not.  This is a series of “idents” (which I’m taking to mean “video snippets identifying a show’s sponsor” – correct me if I’m wrong) for Diet Coke, which is a sponsor of Ugly Betty on Channel 4 and E4.

These have got to be some of the cutest little spots I’ve ever seen.

They are produced by London agency Mother, and they feature a marionette style puppet called Eleanor who is “a stylish, sassy, sophisticated puppet who pulls her own strings.”

The idents borrow from Ugly Betty’s sense of style, focusing on fashion and how it can help one express individuality.

Eleanor is showcased “taking control of her own puppet strings,” enabling her to turn her back on what society dictates and channel her signature style in her own unique way.

(Kind of like Betty, although many American fans do not care for the “fashionable, but non-coordinated” style she has shown in season 3)

In these spots, Eleanor refashions a dress using a blow torch, and burns a hole in a hat, making it a scarf.

Diet Coke also has branding on Channel 4’s Ugly Betty website.  I’m just dying to see how they reconcile this with the whole Cherry 7-up scene in episode 3.22, In The Stars. 

Now, if an American ad agency can just figure out a way to get Heinrich into advertising for ABC’s Ugly Betty broadcast….