From the Notebook: Black20

Buried near the end of the Queens Tribune's Black20 profile, co-founder Nelson Castro admits:

They make some semblance of revenue from bits here and there...

Some of these "bits" come from unique advertising methods. For an online comedy company that has skewed product placement in the past, slamming viewers over the head with overt ads would be a cardinal sin.

So instead, Black20 came up with a covert method when it inked a deal with GPS/Social networking company Loopt.

The product was laced into the company's talk-show spoof "The Middle Show." You can see the results below:



I initially thought fans would cringe, similar to when indy bands allow advertisers to use their songs. But J. Crowley felt the opposite was true.

"The overwhelming response was, 'Finally! Congratulations guys,'" he said. "Our fans know what it's like for us and what a move like that means."

Apparently the prospect for future deals looks slim. Here's to the L.I.C.-based company getting "net_work" syndicated.