Desperate Housewives or Desperate Marketing?

Filed in archive Internet TV on September 5, 2006

The Walt Disney Company turned to YouTube to promote "Pirates of the Caribbean." But last week, things weren't so friendly between the two companies after a sex scene between actress Marcia Cross and guest star Kyle MacLachlan from an upcoming episode of ABC's "desperate housewives" surfaced on the site.

I would link you to it, but ABC complained to YouTube, which subsequently removed the clip by the end of the week.

It's not clear how the clip made its way to YouTube, but some industry insiders speculated to the trade publication Variety that ABC itself might have leaked the clip deliberately to generate buzz for the show's third season. ABC says it didn't.

Several physical clues including time stamping indicate that the scene was from material still in the production process, although it appeared to have been edited.