GM Drives Digital Vehicle

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is teaming up with Viacom's (NYSE:VIA) CBS network this month in a promotional effort that will give away a few Chevy Impalas and draw viewer attention to CBS' new fall lineup. And it's doing so in quite the contemporary fashion, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

During the premier week, Sept. 19-23, CBS will have Chevy Impala logos digitally embedded in scenes during five different shows, including Yes, Dear. Viewers who see a logo can fire up their computers, go to the CBS website, and enter the sweepstakes to win a new Impala.

Product placement -- or, in this case, logo placement -- is a prime competitor to the traditional paradigm of commercial advertising. In this world of TiVo (NASDAQ:TIVO) and DVD box sets, the major networks are keenly aware that viewers can record shows and play them back later, using their handy remotes to skip past the ads if they don't want to see them. The embedding of advertising digitally in the actual scenes of a program kills two birds with one stone. Viewers' eyeballs are on the show and on the advertising at the same time.

This contest is a cool way of achieving such a goal. I know a lot of people dislike intrusive advertising, but I myself tend to support it. And the networks and sponsors have little choice in the matter. They're not doing as well as their counterparts in the cable portion of the sector, so they must increase their creative quotient when it comes to advertising.

For CBS, growing its ratings over time will be more critical than ever. Viacom, as we all know, will be splitting soon. CBS will be grouped together with assets in one half, to be called CBS Corporation. But the other half, which contains the MTV Networks and will be called Viacom, might grow faster over time because it has a higher potential of expanding earnings multiples. As I've stated before, I personally would be more interested in the Viacom portion of the split -- the one with the MTV properties.

As for GM, this sweepstakes is a smart way of making sure people actually see the Chevy Impala promotion. Of course, it's not going to solve all of the automaker's problems. Read this article by Fool contributor Mike Cianciolo, detailing how the company's earnings per share and free cash flow are being challenged (oh, and don't forget pension pressures).

Sure, GM is sporting a yield of better than 6% right now, and it could indeed hold value for those banking on a turnaround. Speaking for myself, it's not a stock I am currently looking at, especially for the long term. The auto industry can be a rough one, and I'm not enthused by the dividend history at GM -- the quarterly payout has been the same for several years. For now, I would seek companies in other industries.

Test drive these related articles:

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• GM Sales Toward Destruction?
• GM and DaimlerChrysler Want to Play
• GM Driven to Loss: Fool by Numbers

Post your thoughts at the General Motors and Viacom discussion boards.

Fool contributor Steven Mallas owns none of the companies mentioned here. The Fool has a disclosure policy.