ThoughtWorthy Media Premieres Internet Search Engine for Products, Music, and Commercials That Appear on TV; Startup Believes There's Not Enough Product Placement On-Screen Today

April 18, 2006; 08:42 AM

FAIRFAX, Va. - ThoughtWorthy Media Inc. today announced the launch of a new online vertical search engine for televised product placement, music, spot advertising, and all other TV merchandising relationships.

Watch. Click. Buy.(TM) Simply stated, if a viewer can see it or hear it on TV, ThoughtWorthy Media's new search engine enables that viewer to seamlessly identify, learn more, buy, and even criticize it online at www.thoughtworthy.com.

Visitors to the thoughtworthy.com website can identify the music, clothes, cosmetics, cars, electronics, and jewelry that either appeared in or were inspired by the latest episodes of their favorite TV shows, music videos, movies, and commercials. They can then write reviews praising those product placements that worked and criticizing those that didn't. Of course, fans can always pay a show the ultimate compliment by making a purchase based on an on-screen product appearance from one of ThoughtWorthy Media's dozens of retail partners.

While some say they are concerned by the growing popularity of "product placement," ThoughtWorthy Media thinks differently.

"What viewers often and justifiably complain about today isn't the amount of product placement on TV, but rather the amount of brand placement," said Daniel P. Swartz, founder, chairman, and CEO of ThoughtWorthy Media. "Product placement is a good thing. A beautiful car is a beautiful car and a stylish sweater is a stylish sweater. Consumers want both. What viewers have a problem with, however, is a close-up shot of a soda can or some terribly forced line of dialogue containing the mention of an advertiser's brand name."

By allowing viewers, on their own schedules, to connect with the products, music, and advertising that they experience on TV via the Internet - a medium ideally suited for such interaction - ThoughtWorthy Media enables television producers to organically integrate products and advertising within their shows without alienating audiences.

"We want users to ask: 'how would that chair look in my office?' and 'would that dress look good on my wife?' and use the expertise of the decorators and designers on TV to help answer these questions at ThoughtWorthy.com," said Kevin A. McGrail, president and CTO of ThoughtWorthy Media. "Our goal is to make product placement less obvious and more organic to the passive viewing experience while still benefiting the advertiser and the viewer - all without negatively impacting the artistic vision of the cast and crew."

Highlights of ThoughtWorthy Media's proprietary iDTV(TM) technology platform include:

-- A Powerful Search Engine. Users can search by TV show, episode, music video, movie, character, celebrity, artist, brand, product, date, and even commercial.

-- Contextual Product Reviews. Users can link their product reviews to a given character, TV show, episode, music video, and more; the goal being to help other like-minded fans understand how the reviewer was first introduced to a given product.

-- Relational Product Footprints. Users can track product placements across multiple episodes on multiple TV shows, music videos, and movies. Audiences might be surprised by the patterns that emerge!

-- Strong Web 2.0 Support. Users can embed lists of their favorite products, music, celebrities, and more within their own websites, blogs, and MySpace profiles. Additionally, ThoughtWorthy Media offers native support for del.icio.us bookmarks and leverages content from the popular Wikipedia and MusicBrainz databases throughout its websites.

ThoughtWorthy Media's management team has extensive e-commerce experience. In 1997, Swartz and McGrail partnered with CurtCo Freedom Group and Alliance Entertainment to launch Romlight.com Inc., a pioneering DVD e-commerce website. Romlight.com eventually became the foundation for Movie Gallery Inc.'s online retail portal. Movie Gallery is now the second-largest video rental company in North America with estimated annual revenue of $2 billion and nearly 4,800 stores.

About ThoughtWorthy Media

ThoughtWorthy Media Inc. is a leading interactive television company targeted specifically at the product placement and spot advertising industries. The company's proprietary iDTV(TM) technology platform allows viewers to easily connect online with the products, music, and advertising that they experience on TV. For more information, please visit www.thoughtworthy.com.