NBCU has the whole country seeing green from coast to coast this week. Effecting over 40 television and digital properties, green themes have been incorporated into story lines and discussion topics as part of a collective effort to integrate environmental issues into the cultural dialogue and to raise eco awareness.
Kicking off the week on the football field, the NBC peacock will put its green feathers on display with the Sunday Night Football broadcast, featuring a Green Week announcement as well as the presentation of a ‘Green Highlights at NBCU’ reel. Moving into the week, the Today Show will feature four green segments per day, focusing on such issues as green cleaning, green moms, home energy diets, and the water crisis, and on NBC Nightly News, Anne Thompson will have special segments on a variety of environmental news topics. Days of Our Lives will feature green themes in story lines, as will The Office, 30 Rock, Outsourced, Parenthood and Law and Order. Carson Daly will feature the new Chevy Fuel Cell Equinox all week and The Biggest Loser will focus on green training tips.
On Friday night, Dateline will feature an hour-long interview with Prince Charles regarding his commitment to global environmental issues, followed by the presentation of his documentary, Harmony, an NBC feature film television special.
All other members of the NBCU family will focus on green themes as well. Tune into msnbc for The Morning Joe, where Joe, Mika and Willy get fresh – fresh and green, that is – as they launch a 5-day special designed to educate America on alternative sources of energy, the debilitating dependence on foreign oil, and how each person can help by making small changes in their everyday lives.
On Bravo, Project Runway will go to a waste management recycling plan for an innovation challenge, and outfits will be made with spare parts. Work of Art will use an appliance graveyard as a canvas, and on Top Chef, big city chefs head to the country for fresh ingredients. On Shear Genius, stylists use what’s in their kitchen cabinet, from eggs to oatmeal and peanut butter, to style their clients’ hair. Real Housewives will offer green tips and Bethanny Getting Married? will incorporate a green storyline.
On Oxygen, Russell Simmons will show how he fits green into his schedule., and Tori & Dean are focusing on green themes as well. CNBC’s Mad Money will feature one green stock per day, Fast Money will focus on green trading, The Strategy Session has Herb looking into a green company and The Suze Orman Show will demonstrate how fiscally responsible can be environmentally responsible.
Even The Weather Channel gets into the act by integrating green topics and lifestyle tips into programming all week. Telemundo’s Alerta Verde will do the same, and NBC affiliated local media stations will feature stories on how to go green locally.
And the list goes on, over 40 programs strong… all the way through November 20 and then beyond. And even after Green Week concludes, the NBCU peacock will still be strutting its green feathers everywhere it goes… because Green is Universal.
By Scott Fields
