Hasta La Creative!

When Fox this week bows its new eight-part unscripted series “Home Free,” it will mark the first time the network will have aired a show in the shelter category since the short-lived “Renovate My Family” came and went back in 2004. And while a midweek summer strip may not exactly move the needle on traditional ad sales, the new show is attracting a horde of endemic brands looking to capitalize on integration opportunities.

According to executive producer and Relativity Television CEO Tom Forman, “Home Free” has struck integration deals with nearly 20 home-centric brands, including Select Comfort’s Sleep Number mattresses, Kwikset Locks, 3M, Kohler and Armstrong Flooring. Many of the brands are new to Fox; the fees paid to Relativity for the various product placements defray the costs of producing the show, while some of the larger brands can be expected to buy traditional airtime as well.

While the Sleep Number integrations are perhaps the most noticeable — bulky things that lay claim to nearly one-third of our lives, mattresses naturally take up more mental space than deadbolts and deck screws — Mr. Forman said the featured brands were selected to reflect both necessity and verisimilitude. “We’re renovating nine homes and each has two, three, four bedrooms. That’s a lot of mattresses,” he said. “We wanted to make sure that the integrations aren’t just seamless, but sometimes very necessary. I’m allergic to bad integration that just feels like an advertisement within the body of the narrative.”

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