The Daily Beast Tries Sponsored Article Format with 'Benjamin Button'

The entertainment world is abuzz with talk of Oscar nominations and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” earned 13 nods including one for Best Supporting Actress Taraji P. Henson. Perhaps in a bid to generate early Oscar momentum for the film, Paramount has been running a sponsored interview with the star actress on The Daily Beast.

The feature has resided on the front page of The Daily Beast for some time. Caroline Marks, general manager at The Daily Beast, said the sponsored article format is part of the IAC-owned site’s monetization efforts.

“We are committed to building new programs and advertising initiatives including integrated content opportunities,” she said. “In this case, we agreed on the broad topic with Paramount (the movie), but the Daily Beast ran the editorial and wrote the piece, which is clearly identified as sponsored content. We are still defining the elements of our advertising and sponsorship programs.”