News Summary

• Advertising characters like the Pillsbury Doughboy and Ronald McDonald have long made commercial breaks their home.
• Now, in a twist on established advertising models, the popular State Farm figure will turn up in a program his ads might typically support.
• His cameo in “Running Point,” a comedy about a fictional basketball team run by Kate Hudson’s character, is likely to test how viewers react to seeing elements from ads in their favorite programs.
• Some resistance to the injection of advertising figures in actual programming likely remains.