The wildly popular star Kaley Cuoco of “The Big Bang Theory” is being added to the memorable Priceline advertising campaign, playing
According to a press release yesterday from Priceline (PCLN):
One year after stunning millions of William Shatner fans by dropping his "Negotiator" character off a bridge, priceline.com is back with a new TV campaign — and another shocker. The Negotiator will reveal that he has a secret child, and she is none other than Kaley Cuoco, star of the hit TV series "The Big Bang Theory."
The campaign, which begins running January 14 will showcase priceline.com's family-friendly Express Deals hotel reservation service, where customers don't have to bid and can get quality hotel rooms (even choosing their bedding type in some cases) at savings of up to 45% over published rates. The new ad shows The Negotiator driving to the top of a mountain with a little girl and dropping her off in front of a mysterious dojo. Decades later, he returns to pick her up; she is now an adult, and after years of intense training, is, like her father, highly skilled in the art of finding the best travel deals. And she may have even learned some techniques that eluded dear old Dad."
See the new ad here (Play Video).
William Shatner had this to say about the campaign twist:
The Negotiator harbors many secrets, and this is just one of them. It's another layer to the enigma of The Negotiator that shows us there are many different ways to find great hotel deals. And, as in life, there is something new he can learn from a younger perspective."
And Cuoco sounded thrilled to be part of the campaign effort:
It's definitely exciting working with Bill, and being part of a campaign and a brand that I've pretty much grown up with. He has single-handedly built the Priceline Negotiator into a pop culture icon. I think there's a lot of overlap in our fans, who will appreciate seeing us together as a father and daughter team. And who wouldn't want to be William Shatner's daughter?"
The timing of this move perhaps could not be better, as the perennially highly-rated and Emmy-winning Big Bang Theory is off to a gangbusters start for 2013. Just Wednesday evening it won the "People's Choice Award" for most popular network comedy (although Cuoco, who was also the show's host, failed to win an individual award). And Big Bang is being compared to the long-running Friends by IBTimes.com and others:
Is “The Big Bang Theory” the next “Friends?” The CBS sitcom about a group of awkward but endearing geeks has always been a ratings hit, but the show’s record-breaking first episode of 2013 has it earning numbers close to one of the most popular sitcoms of all time.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, “The Big Bang Theory’s” first episode of 2013, “The Egg Salad Equivalency,” brought in a whopping 19.25 million viewers on Thursday night, breaking records for the show.
Even more impressive was the show’s record-breaking Nielsen rating of 6.1 in the 18-49-year-old demographic, meaning that not only is the show extremely popular, it’s extremely popular with the most popular audience for advertisers.
All those numbers combined mean that “The Big Bang Theory” might just be the most consistently popular sitcom since “Friends” went off the air in 2004. Toward the end of its run, “Friends” was consistently pulling in about 20 million viewers per episode, according to Yahoo.
With Shatner’s “surprise comeback” last year after a brief absence from Priceline advertising, the approximate 15-year run for the 81-year old actor as Priceline spokesperson looks poised to take on new life again.
PCLN stock has enjoyed a remarkable three-year move higher, more than tripling from the $200 level in early 2010 to its recent trading area of $650 (although well off all-time highs of $774.96 set in early 2012).
