''They Go On'' is a 1997

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

developed by Levi Strauss & Co. and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

and

streamed Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downloadin ...

at NBC.com. The show, funded entirely by Levi Strauss, was based on characters from their

advertising campaign An advertising campaign or marketing campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ide ...

of the same name. The show featured characters from the ads, such as D.J. Marcus and the Impala Man, with two lead characters introduced for the show, Chloe (played by

Laura Prepon Laura Prepon ( ; born March 7, 1980) is an American actress and television director. She rose to fame with her role as Donna Pinciotti in the Fox sitcom ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006). She is also known for portraying Alex Vause in the Net ...

) and Zack. Chloe and Zack interacted with the viewers during the "broadcast" via an Internet forum that was part of the website. Tarsem from @radical.media directed the original ads. NBC Digital Productions then created a new media drama which tied together the ads and added interactive features. It was touted as a new example of the blurring of the lines between advertisements and entertainment, an alternative to

product placement Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of t ...

infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of di ...

s, or various forms of undercover marketing.

External links and references

Levi Strauss decides its jeans could use a little soap
a September 1997 article from the ''

San Francisco Business Times American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...

''
NBC continues TV/Internet convergence with Snap! alliance
from an August 1998 ''

SHOOT Shoot most commonly refers to: * Shoot (botany), an immature plant or portion of a plant * Shooting, the firing of projectile weapons * Photo shoot, a photography session; an event wherein a photographer takes photographs Shoot may also refer t ...

'' article
Levi Strauss campaigns become pieces at an exhibition
from an October 1997 article in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''
Jean's List
from an October 1997 ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' article
The Fall Girls
a September 1998 article from ''

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment *Maxim (magazine), ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** Maxim (Australia), ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** Maxim (India), ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim ...

'' identifying Prepon as Chloe {{US daytime soaps Internet soap operas Advertising American television commercials NBC soap operas American television soap operas American drama web series Internet properties established in 1997 1990s television commercials