Eatin' Good: Turner Sports, Applebee's Shooting MLB-Themed Spots

Turner Sports' creative services unit on Monday will shoot new "customized spots for Applebee's that will begin running" during TBS' Sunday MLB games beginning later this month, according to John Consoli of MEDIAWEEK. The 30-second spots, created in-house, will be shot at an Applebee's in Suwanee, Georgia, and will make "no mention of Applebee's food but capture the interior decor of the location as the conversations are taking place." The spots will contain "specially themed content" featuring TBS' Chip Caray, former MLBer Mitch Williams and a fan "discussing and debating assorted baseball topics." Turner Sports VP & Creative Dir Craig Barry: "Applebee's was looking for a way to integrate into our baseball coverage. They wanted to make sure the integration was relevant to baseball but did not focus on their food. So we devised these spots where baseball personalities and fans go to Applebee's to talk baseball." Barry said that there will be "more than 15 different spots shot that will run at the opening of each Sunday TBS MLB telecast beginning in late May and running about 10 weeks" through the MLB season (MEDIAWEEK.com, 5/2).