MILF Manor Was a Tough Marketing Sell, but Now TLC Is Eager to Own the Mother of All Acr

August 2024 · 5 minute read

TLC marketers immediately knew that the new dating series “MILF Manor” would pose a challenge — just on its title alone. That’s not to mention its premise: eight single women, between the ages of 40 and 60, dating men who are decades younger. (And here’s the twist: That pool of men are the women’s sons.)

“I think we all had a moment where we went, ‘Wait, what? What are we doing?’” TLC senior VP of marketing Jennifer Jakowicz says of “MILF Manor,” which premiered Jan. 15. “It was a slight moment of panic. Then we all kind of focused our energies, and we said, ‘OK, we’re gonna do this.’”

But some of the usual marketing methods, such as paid media, had to be reconsidered. “We were rejected by some media outlets, understandably,” Jakowicz says. “We were definitely not putting any money towards paid search, because that algorithm would not work in our favor. So we didn’t come at this campaign from a paid mindset. We came at it from a ‘We know this is going to be noisy and buzzy. We know that TLC is the brand to do this type of title.’”

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TLC is no stranger to edgy, with shows like “My 600-Lb. Life” and “90 Day Fiance.” In the case of “MILF,” relying on mostly unpaid media was easy. Turns out that outlets (including, yes, Variety) couldn’t resist writing about the show with the salacious title.

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It was a real-life version of “30 Rock’s” infamous fake reality series “MILF Island” (“25 super-hot moms, 50 eighth grade boys, no rules”). But this was real, and chum for social media chatter.

“When that organic social conversation happens and that wildfire starts — one where you just can’t even keep up with it — that’s worth millions of dollars,” Jakowicz says. (For the record, she won’t comment on the similarity to “MILF Island.”)

Even working with the press came with guard rails. News releases had to refer to the show in email subject headers as “M Manor,” to avoid spam filters. And in marketing spots, Jakowicz’s team strategically didn’t dwell on the acronym “MILF” (which, for the innocent, means … well, go look it up — but not on a work computer).

“We never say ‘MILF,’” Jakowicz notes. “We just let the card [with the show title] sit for an extra three to five seconds, and it’s just a visual. We were careful and thoughtful about not saying it all the time, because it loses a little bit of its luster. … But when you just put it up on a screen or on a social card and people read it, it elicits more of a chuckle or an ‘Oh, you naughty, naughty people at TLC!’”

Once the show’s twist was revealed, Jakowicz says her team could focus on the mother/son angle: “We knew immediately that showing the heart and the soul of this show was going to be critical.”

And now that “MILF Manor” is several episodes in, Jakowicz says TLC wants to unabashedly own the term “MILF.” “If we can do that, we would be so proud,” she says. “We want that moniker ‘MILF’ to be a badge of honor as we start to build equity in it.”

For Jakowicz, that includes a personal embrace of the term: “We have a MILF quiz on TLC .com. Of course we all took it, and my results were I was a ‘moderate MILF.’ I was highly offended. So my 2023 goal is I’m going to work on my MILFness.”

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