A&E kicks off promotion for familiar 'Biography' subjects

By VARIETY STAFF

A&E has launched a nationwide "Biography" ad and branding campaign under the new positioning catch phrase "The People You Thought You Knew," promoting the nightly docu program in national print ads and on buses, billboards and kiosks primarily in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit.

Ads feature such past "Biography" subjects as Paul Newman, Michael Douglas, Nancy Reagan and Judy Garland.

Michael Mohamad, VP marketing for A&E Networks, said the new campaign capitalizes on the "aha factor" --- intriguing and unknown aspects of people profiled on the series.

A&E also announced that it plans to broaden the scope of "Biography" to include a wider range of international figures, including such planned subjects as Che Guevara, Lenin, Chiang Kai-Shek, Mahatma Gandhi, Oskar Schindler and others.

The net plans to develop and produce the upcoming "Biography" episodes with new and existing partners worldwide.