In a new humorous ad entitled, “Perfect Partners,” actor Kevin Costner teaches us about affiliate partnerships:
“Let’s talk CO-llabs,” his manager says to Costner, his faux western accent emphasizing the first syllable. “What’s a CO-llab?” Costner answers, reluctantly moving toward the potential partners on display behind him:
Among the partners that are presented to a Costner are “Foam on the Range” oven cleaner, and “Ranch Hand Musk.” After Costner spraying the latter, the actor wrinkles his nose, saying, “that doesn’t smell good… there must be something here that I like…” The joke being that the thing he likes is right in his hand in a Green Mountain camping mug.
The commercial entertains and educates, but it also demonstrates a core truth about affiliate: from our experience, when a creator believes in a product, it’s more likely to convert.
“Perfect Partners” also demonstrates how affiliate partnerships are entering into the parlance of our times. Historically dubbed the “wild wild west” of the marketing stack, affiliate is recast as lucrative, entertaining, and witty fodder for brand advertising content set, ironically, on a ranch.
