www.MalikWright.com

What is going on? I'm totally confused. First it looks like The CW is ignoring the show and then they come up with the marketing scheme of the century, perhaps. Somehow, I can see them not using it to it's full potential, but it's still cutting edge innovation at it's finest.

The Game gets no love from The CW. That's a given. Not only do they not promote the show in TV ads, but they rarely promote it on the network's main web page. The Game itself didn't get a mention on The CW's main page until a couple of days before the season premiere, but www.malikwright.com is being promoted there now after having been mentioned in the season premiere.

*SPOILER ALERT* - this paragraph contains season 3 show information that has not aired yet.

It makes perfect sense. Many of us know that Malik will struggle with gay rumors this season. They could have made us aware of the rumors by having Malik and other characters looking at the news on their computers, in papers or by watching TV like they did when Malik hit the wheelchair-bound comic strip writer. While they will likely still do all those things, I got a funny feeling the Malik Wright site and blog will play heavily in that story line. Has that ever been done before?

*END OF SPOILER*

I don't know how they are going to do it, but I tried to post a comment on the blog and it was not posted so if they are going to allow fan participation it hasn't happened yet. They should allow fan participation. Can you imagine how much the ratings would blow up if fans were allowed to get involved in the story? Why do you think Idol and the like are so popular? Because fan participation is a big part of those shows. The fans are important and they get to feel important when they are allowed to participate.

It may seem like too much effort, but they could also team up with one or more of the popular black entertainment blogs to create the stories about Malik. Of course their would be a disclaimer stating that Malik is a fictional character and the blog is a part of the story line on The Game. They could turn off the comments and only have comments written by the show's writers or allow only select bloggers who are on a preferred list to post comments. Sure The CW would have to pay for the advertising, but I have learned that urban blog ads are cheap cheap cheap despite the fact that they get millions of hits. They cater to the exact same demographic as The Game and would be well worth the small expense.

As for the Malik Wright blog, the comments should be open to the public. That would make it seem more authentic and get the fans engaged. They can continue to moderate the comments and only post those that fit in the story line. As an avid blogger I know that even a crummy blog can be brought to life by the witty, mostly mean spirited comments. I just think those comments should be real. Bloggers would love the opportunity to rip a guy like Malik to shreds.

If used properly this could change the game in Hollywood the same way Idol and reality shows did. If The Game ratings skyrocket because of this marketing scheme it would be huge news for The CW that brings in money for the struggling network. I really hope they use this for all it's worth and they really need to start advertising on these urban blogs. It's too cheap to pass up.