NLSN Nielsen Holdings PLC

By Nat Ives 

Plenty of brands would like to find a way into an ad-free smash TV show like HBO's "Game of Thrones." On Sunday night, Starbucks may have lucked its way there.

Observant viewers noticed that something strongly resembling a Starbucks coffee cup appeared in one scene on a table before Daenerys Targaryen, played by Emilia Clarke.

Starbucks responded Monday with a tweet saying, "TBH we're surprised she didn't order a Dragon Drink."

The anachronism handed Starbucks a big share of the voluminous "Game of Thrones" social-media conversation that follows every episode.

One viewer joked on Twitter about Starbucks employees' practice of writing customers' names on their cups: "Feeling sorry for the Starbucks barrister that had to write out 'Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, First of Her Name, the Unburnt, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons.'"

But Starbucks doesn't seem likely to reap a concrete business boost from its unexpected cameo.

Mark Henderson, vice president of product strategy at Nielsen Holdings PLC, said he wasn't sure how the cup's appearance would rate on his company's Branded Integration Intel scoring system, which considers factors such as screen time to rate product placements. "It's a strange amalgamation," he said, noting that Starbucks doesn't exist in the show's fantasy setting.

Representatives of Starbucks Corp. and HBO, part of the WarnerMedia division of AT&T Inc., didn't immediately provide comment Monday.

Other brands have found themselves unexpectedly in prominent media venues before -- and struggled to make much of the opportunity. Poland Spring appeared in Sen. Marco Rubio's response to the 2013 State of the Union when he lunged awkwardly for a bottle of water. The next afternoon, the brand posted a photo on Facebook of a bottle facing a mirror with the caption, "Reflecting on our cameo. What a night!"

Beyoncé's 2016 song "Formation" includes a raunchy call-out to "Red Lobster." The chain eventually wrote on Twitter, "'Cheddar Bey Biscuits' has a nice ring to it, don't you think? #Formation @Beyonce"

Ratings for Sunday night's episode of "Game of Thrones" aren't available yet. The April 28 episode drew 17.8 million viewers the night it made its debut, including two TV airings and streaming on HBO's digital platforms.

Dozens of brands arranged for official promotional tie-ins with the show, without the benefit of appearing in a scene, including Bud Light, Mountain Dew, OkCupid and Oreo.

Write to Nat Ives at nat.ives@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 06, 2019 14:09 ET (18:09 GMT)

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