CBS To Drop Promos For 'Poppa's House' During March Madness

Like it started doing last year with Tracker, CBS is getting a head start on promoting its new fall series Poppa’s House by dropping teasers during March Madness that feature Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr.

Unlike last year’s spots touting the new Justin Hartley drama, however, the newest one acknowledges how early it is to be talking up the new sitcom. Fortunately, the Wayans are in on the joke.

“Long lead marketing!” quips Damon Wayans in the 15-second spot.

“We do have a sense of humor at CBS, so allowing our talent to acknowledge what the audience is seeing, is something we feel good about,” President and Chief Marketing Office Mike Benson tells Deadline. “We also think that the audience will appreciate the honesty. Let’s call it what it is … long lead marketing and have some fun with it. It’s not only good marketing, but it’s authentic in that it’s the Wayans’ sense of humor and true to where we want to be as a brand.”

Poppa’s House features Damon Wayans as a legendary talk radio host and happily divorced “poppa” who has his point of view challenged at work when a new female co-host is hired, and at home where he finds himself still parenting his adult son (Wayans Jr.), a brilliant dreamer who is trying to pursue his passion while being a responsible father and husband.

The Wayans also shot spots that promote CBS programming blocks like Crimetime Sundays and the new drama Elsbeth. The first one dropped Thursday night at the start of March Madness.

“We know how hard it is to get noticed today,” adds Benson. “There’s a lot of content on many platforms and audiences have a lot of choice. We as marketers need to understand that with some shows, you need to take the time to introduce new content in a way that builds interest and anticipation over time. Tracker was one of those shows for us and we think Poppa’s House might be another. And, rather than start with a typical trailer, we look for creative, clever and provocative ways to engage audiences. In this case, there’s no one better to do that than the stars themselves, so we used them in a very simple way to begin to build awareness and interest.”

CBS Studios produces Poppa’s House. Kevin Hench is exec producer, who co-wrote the pilot with Wayans, who also exec produces alongside Wayans Jr. Andy Ackerman directed and exec produced the pilot, while Kameron Tarlow is the producer at Wayans Jr.’s Two Shakes Entertainment overseeing the project.