Looking for a Good Time? (Must Like to Watch)

By Shirley Brady

Two cable networks last month donned disguises to dupe (and lure) new viewers with cheeky (and fake) guerrilla ads touting new shows that debuted last month.

A week before Sex and the City premiered on TBS June 15, the network blanketed New York City and its hometown of Atlanta with handwritten flyers that gave the appearance of having been written by the four female lead characters in its tamer run of the raunchy HBO series. A sampling of what was slapped on telephone poles:

*"Missing: $40,000. Spent on shoes. Manolo Blahniks, Jimmy Choos, Prada, etc...Can you sympathize? Please help." (Carrie)

*"Wanted: Chocolate of any kind. Female attorney seeks cookies, cake?whatever you got. If you have something in the trash, I can eat that too." (Miranda, recalling a desperate moment)

*"Wanted: Perfect Man. 30-something art dealer seeks handsome, successful, circumcised man with classic six on Upper West Side for perfect life." (Charlotte, the dreamer)

*"Wanted: Menage a Trois. Very sexy, 40-something woman and wealthy hotelier boyfriend seek romantic liaison with gorgeous 20-year-old woman." (a sex-crazed Samantha)

Each flyer featured a tear-off strip with the date and time of the series' debut on TBS, prompting passersby who got the joke to pocket the flyers as keepsakes.

Speed Channel, meanwhile, took out faux personal ads in select markets' newspapers to create buzz for I Wanna Date a Race Car Driver (which sounds a lot like a SATC episode), its reality series that debuted June 9. An ad for female NASCAR racer Leilani Munter that ran in The Washington Post said she "seeks a man who can keep up with me." The listed contact number played a recorded message from Munter inviting callers to meet her at 8 p.m. Wednesday night on Speed Channel, a witty tune-in message for her episode that aired June 16.

Speed spokesman Erik Arneson says more fake ads will run in other markets such as New York and Chicago throughout the series' run this summer.