Now that Xbox is shuttering its entertainment division, an even more abstract corporate entity has stepped in to create its own content studio based on a tenuous connection to the entertainment industry and presumably the desire of one of its executives to impress their monstrous offspring.
That corporate entity is hotel chain Marriott International, which Variety reports is getting into the entertainment business by launching Marriott Content Studios because hey, hotel rooms have TVs. The “branded entertainment division” is designed to persuade the young and the hip to choose Marriott when looking for a location for their rainbow parties or whatever teens not relying on decade-old moral panics for their references are into in 2014.
To this end, Marriott has recruited a YouTube celebrity, a Snapchat celebrity, and, oddly enough, the producers of Ghost Whisperer to create content for people to watch for about three minutes until they figure out how to change the channel to HBO. This will include YouTube series and sponsored Snapchat content, a new concept pioneered by ads for the movie Ouija. Marriott’s first YouTube series, Marriott Rewards’ Year Of Surprises, debuted earlier this month.