If it is one thing Big Brother must be credited for, it is pushing the commercial boundaries of the digital world. It’s not at some greater forefront, don’t get me wrong – it isn’t part of the true evolution of modern technology and cyberspace (for this is ultimately a world that largely happens outside of boardrooms and offices); but in terms of being a large-scale, high-gloss, mainstream pop product, it has excelled at taking the digital forefront that happens outside of boardrooms and offices, and applying it to a multi-media, cyber-oriented commercial context. It was in the cyberworld of Big Brother, that I first came across a commercial use of internet  as cross-promotion that was so successful and grand. There was never any doubt in my mind that it’s finger was on the digital pulse (or, at very least, the digital marketers and producers it had employed), and that it showed how a website could ultimately enhance the core product that spawned it (adding value to it), and could even become a revenue-generator, in itself. Years later, I still refer to its use of cyberspace, in many of the media and advertising industries I work in and circulate around. For all the problems I have had with Big Brother – the kind that manifested from my realisation that such commercial contexts could, in turn, be exploited by others around it (providing a powerful access) – there’s no denying its influence on my digital life and, furthermore, profession. Hats off to that much of it, at least. And for 2008’s season, it has utilised the digital space, once again, in a promotional deal that will set the forthcoming series apart from all before it. Or, so they hope.

 

And let’s be real, here – that’s what the latest audition promotion is – a promotion, an advertisement, a publicity stunt (etc). It’s designed to generate interest in a series and format that is now in a spot of trouble. Each new series of a successful television show will ultimately be marketed in a manner driven by the public reaction to the series before it. A smash-hit needs to “sustain” an audience; but Big Brother - having taken a beating, in recent years – needs to “persuade” viewers back. It needs to convince people of a reason to turn back to Big Brother, after so very many have changed channels. It sometimes takes too long for shows to kick this in – partly, perhaps, because it requires the product to recognise that there is, indeed, a problem. You’d be surprised at the delusion that runs through some successful entertainment businesses – there’s a kind of corporate mantra that is so effective, it blinds these businesses to impending failures. We can only presume what has been driving the recent evolution of Big Brother (many things, at the end of the day, would be), but last year floored me for, if nothing else, how little it had changed, at a time when it appeared obvious to the marketing schmuck inside of me, that this was clearly a product that had to persuade, not sustain. This means it had to change, and convince the public it had done so (because the ultimate reason people will turn back is because they believe they are turning back to something different); but, it didn’t. It suffered, because it tried a little to hard to sustain that vile core audience it has, every year, been able to count on. People who were a little less vile (and certainly, by 2007, those who enjoyed the idea of any kind of social experiment as modern television) were leaving.

But now, Big Brother is quite clearly asking them to bring their not-quite-as-vile selves back to the screen. The departure of Gretel Killeen was a loud message (whether it was partly her decision, or not – of which, we’ll never know): Big Brother 2008, now hear ye this, will be Different™. And yes, yes, we’ve heard it before. The BBBA forums are already alive with the sounds of disbelievers who recall the exact same promises, last May. But these promises were nothing more than ultimately vacuous slogans (all slogans, ultimately, are vacuous). This time, we’ve reason to believe that we will arrive at something considerably changed in nature. It’s early days, sure - but Kyle Sandilands (for better, or… yes… worse) is going to have a huge impact (as designed) upon the show. This is a show that is screaming We’re Different!™, and, tentatively, it looks like this may be the case. New host. Check. Now, bring on the new auditions promotion.

 

One of the most absurd slogans of this reality TV mothership has been the constant excited whisper of "You decide!" The consumers, at the end of the day, decide very little, in a world of tight television production that, truth be told, can think of nothing more problematic than the uncertainty of what lies ahead being in the hands of the viewers. We don't so much as "decide" but, rather, "obey" suggestions, respond (as planned) to contrived dramas, slurs and heroic narratives, and pretty much do as we're told. Now, We (the people), are being let in, for the very first time, on the auditions process. Well, sort of.

Here's the gist beneath the spin of it. This year, Big Brother is allowing hopefuls to post their application videos to the official website (instead of the only avenue being to turn up at the live auditions - something less people have been doing in recent years). These are then presented to the public (having been green-lighted by the production team), who can then - if registered - vote on who they want to see in the 2008 house. It's simple, on the one hand, and on another, complex - complex enough to dangerously open the whole thing up to a range of flaws and complications (potentially turning a PR smash into a PR no-no). From this voting system, 50 are chosen to, from what we can gather, be then chosen by the producers to - perhaps - be placed on the forthcoming roll-call. It's a long way to the top, if you want to rock and roll a million bucks (or less) from Mr Brother, and if you're presuming some kind of public autonomy seeing you through, it's unwise to bank too much on it. The smoke and mirrors may herald the handing over of proceedings to the general public, but underneath, it's not really what that slogan tells us (surprise, surprise). But, nice marketing idea - we'll see how the public buy it. The forums don't. And one wonders if others outside the BB hardcore community (who do not make or break shows, as such) are pulled in to the stunt. Pardon me for being the knit-picker, but the reality is that it would have been a rather expensive exercise; and, yet, they seem to have spent more money on the production of this promotion, than they have on the actual promoting of it. After a few well-placed ads on primetime, there was no further genius to give the promotion any gust, and to place it in the willing hands of media. It's fizzled to a point where I feel a little behind, only now writing an article on the matter. That's not a particularly good sign.

Perhaps, they were banking on those videos. But I've long said that one of the problems of reality television having become so very unreal, is that it has now gone past a point of no return. Anything real, in comparison, is... well... a bit bland. The desensitisation of the public to well-produced theatrics, alongside the adaptation to what is so unreal (processed, by the public, as if it is quite the opposite), means that these videos, whilst being a long-awaited moment where Big Brother incorporates some "truth" into the presentation of the individuals who (naively, or otherwise) step into BB World, are all a bit of a yawn, on one level. It should be a good thing. Really, it should. But, I think for the general public they are aimed at, it will all get rather dull, rather quickly. The level of interest in the promotion, now that it is old news, seems to support that this is exactly what happened.

On another level (a level that is absolutely useless to the question of the promotion's broader success), it's a very rare glimpse into the minds of those young (and not so young) Aussies who look for something in that remarkably cruel show (at a year where, one may presume - considering its new host - things could become even meaner). The vivid portraits - little moments most would miss - were scattered among what I found an ultimately tiresome, time-consuming exercise; but, regardless, they were there. Along with a few other surprises.