Business & Tech

Libertyville's Bee-line Communications to Compete on 'The Pitch'

The show will air Sept. 12 at 10 p.m. on AMC.

If you're relaxing Thursday night and can't decide what to watch on TV, you might want to turn on AMC's "The Pitch."

Some of it just might look familiar.

Libertyville's Bee-line Communications will be one of two Chicago-area agencies competing for the chance to create an ad campaign for Little Caesars. Bee-line's founder, Stacey McClenathan, said viewers "will see a lot of Libertyville haunts on this show."

While McClenathan couldn't give specifics, she said "viewers who live in Libertyville will recognize where we are, what we're doing."

This is the second season of AMC's "The Pitch," an unscripted reality series which has two agencies vying for one brand in each episode. Other brands that are being featured this season include 1-800-Flowers, Gibson Guitar Corporation and Tommy Bahama.

The Sept. 12 episode was filmed during the last week of March and the first week of April, McClenathan said. Bee-line delivered its pitch during the week of Easter, she said.

"It's absolutely real-life," said McClenathan. "The only thing is you usually don't have cameras on you, don't have five days and you don't know who your competition is. The way they film it is really very much like it happens in real life."

She said "The Pitch" shows how tough it is for agencies to come up with great ideas. 

With Little Caesars, it was easy to research the company's competition. 

"It's a known commodity," said McClenathan. "Pizza is America's favorite food. There's pizza all over the world in every town—big chains and small chains. At the end of the day, it's dough, cheese, sauce."

The key with Little Caesars, she said, was "to find something that will deliver what the brand is asking for on the show."

Viewers will find out the results during Thursday night's episode.

McClenathan said she enjoyed filming the show. She said the crew from AMC was incredible and made the experience fun even when it was stressful. McClenathan and her Bee-line employees filmed with the crew for 10 days, totaling about 200 to 300 hours.

"We delivered a lot of things that you won't see on camera," said McClenathan. "You're only seeing a small, small snippet of what you come back to the client with."

She added that it was easy to forget the cameras were around. 

"It is scary how quick you forget those cameras are on you," said McClenathan. "You feel a little like you're in a fishbowl for a couple of hours and then you're in your zone, doing your thing." 

She laughed about the TV listing's warning about "coarse language" on Thursday night's show: "That's probably me."

The show will air at 10 p.m. and will also be available on On Demand and online. 
McClenathan admits to being nervous about seeing herself on TV.

"I would do anything to get out of it," she said, recalling—not so fondly—the poncho she wore that "looks like I've got 30 people under it."

She plans to watch the show with her friends and colleagues.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here