Roto-Rooter Joins "The Simple Life" Show  6/8/06

CINCINNATI, OH -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 06/07/06 -- The Roto-Rooter brand is reaching a more diverse group of TV viewers these days but not through traditional television commercials. Instead, Roto-Rooter is taking part in a growing trend, product placement in television shows. Roto-Rooter now has three of its service technicians embedded in two cable TV series: SCI Fi Channel's highly rated "Ghost Hunters" program, which completed its second season May 31st, and "The Simple Life: 'Til death do us part," on E! Entertainment Channel.

New episodes of "The Simple Life," starring Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, premiered June 4th. Thurston Limar, a real life technician from Roto-Rooter's Long Beach, California franchise, has a recurring role in four episodes with original air dates set for June 11, June 25, July 23 and August 6. In the show, Roto-Rooter dispatches "Limar" to help poor little rich girl, Paris Hilton, out of a few plumbing jams as she struggles to master common household tasks that have long been beneath her station in life. Limar, a giant of a man at 6 feet and 300 pounds, contrasts greatly with the petite stars of the show and he thinks that's why producers asked him back: "All of my scenes were with Paris and she's such a tiny girl, I could've put her in my pocket."

Roto-Rooter sees TV brand placement as a good value compared with traditional television advertising. The company spent most of its ad budget on other mediums in recent years and hasn't made a national TV buy since 2001. "Technology has made it too easy to tune out traditional commercial messages but viewers can't miss our brand when we're part of the show's story line," said Steve Pollyea, Roto-Rooter's vice president of marketing.

Before its debut in 2004, Roto-Rooter had serious reservations about getting involved with "Ghost Hunters" because they feared it would be too controversial. Two Roto-Rooter plumbers from Providence, Rhode Island, had signed a deal to do the show. Producers liked the fact that Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson were "regular Joes" with real day jobs and they wanted to show the pair on the job. The ratings and feedback have been strong enough to convince the company to continue its involvement and to watch for similar projects that offer good value.