Five Best Branded-Entertainment Deals of 2009

By Andrew Hampp

Excerpt: 

#4 "Easy to Assemble," IKEA

It's been a good year for IKEA in Hollywood. The Swedish furniture chain played host to a key scene in this summer's indie hit "(500) Days of Summer," while its sponsored web series, "Easy to Assemble," became the most-watched branded web show to date. Created by actress Illeana Douglas, "Easy to Assemble" racked up 5 million views (and counting) during its second season, racking up more organic traffic than MSN's "In the Motherhood" through distribution on My Damn Channel and key IKEA fan sites. The show has gained such a big following that IKEA has already ordered three more episodes of the second season (with talks to renew for a third) and sponsored a spinoff, "Sparhusen," about a fictional Swedish pop band co-starring Keanu Reeves. A second spinoff, an IKEA-based talk show called "Forty and Bitter" hosted by Justine Bateman, is also in the works.

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