Last night, the Big Brother 11 houseguests competed in a luxury challenge - not for a limousine-chauffeured trip to an isolated beach, a romantic horse ride through Griffith Park at sunset or a week's supply of table wine to bathe in, but a private screening of Columbia's new romantic comedy, The Ugly Truth. The announcement of this week's prize by Head of Household, Ronnie, was immediately followed by a full-length trailer of the movie and an Ugly Truth-themed trivia game, a flagrant marketing strategy reminiscent of 30 Rock's McFlurry and iPhone product-placement campaign.
Unlike 30 Rock though, Big Brother did not have any quippy dialogue to undercut the tension created by promotional obtrusiveness. Instead, CBS punctuated The Ugly Truth trailer by intercutting shots of the houseguests laughing, cheering and clapping wildly.
After the houseguests wiped the Heigl Hilarity-induced tears from their eyes, they moved outside to compete for the coveted Columbia Tristar screening and were welcomed by America's Player, Dan (Heigl was apparently unavailable), who stood on a makeshift stage flanked by The Ugly Truth posters. The contestants answered trivia questions aimed to find out The Ugly Truth about what the opposite sex actually thinks. Upon answering the romance question correctly, the contestants used the girl/boy figures from The Ugly Truth posters to indicate their score.
Considering the ludicrousness of past Big Brother challenges, it is amazing that the producers didn't have the houseguests reenact a scene from the movie while dialing a long-distance number on a rotary phone or competing in a game of Mouse Trap, but they might be saving that for the premiere of Julie & Julia.