From Variety:

The consumer-products giant behind household staples like Tide, Crest and Pampers has been entwined with daytime serials for nearly a century, helping to produce radio dramas like “The Guiding Light”; daytime TV mainstays including “As the World Turns”; and a recent revival of the format called “Beyond the Gates” that airs on CBS. Now the company hopes to reach digitally savvy consumers with an intriguing twist on the old formula.

In January, P&G will launch “The Golden Pear Affair,” a 50-episode “microsoap” that will be made available initially via social media and, later, a bespoke mobile app. The idea, say backers of the new program, is to reach people who are used to giving content a swipe on a mobile phone, rather than those who sit back and passively swoon in front of a more traditional screen.

Will fans of the original concept flock to new one? The bite-sized episodes “are serialized dramas. They are soapy and there are going to be some elements that are a little out there,” says Anna Saalfeld, head of P&G Studios. But the new series — some people behind the scenes refer to it as a “short opera” — is  “definitely social-first. It is optimized for viewing on your screen. It is very snackable. There are key differentiators” from old-school programs.

“The Golden Pear Affair” is meant to highlight Procter’s Native line of personal-care products. A new collection of “Global Flavors” products sport fragrances from around the world, and will likely get some nods during all the action in “Pear.” “It’s got romance. It’s certainly got adventure. And it’s a lot of fun,” says Geneva Wasserman, global executive vice president of entertainment IP strategy and investment at Dentsu, the agency that has worked with Procter & Gamble on creating the series.

[...]

“Golden Pear” drama starts from the first second of the program. The heroine is marrying a crime boss, and things pick up from there, says Jonas Barnes, founder of Pixie USA, a Georgia-based microdrama studio that produced the new series. The hope is that any nods to Native won’t get in the way of viewers enjoying the show. “What’s really important is making the product part of the story where it’s instrumental. and not just on the table. Or the character picking it up and saying, ‘Look what I got.’”

[...]

Add up all the views, says Wasserman, and they may just equal something bigger than the sum of its parts “If you watch it all, you’ve got an hour, maybe an hour and a half of content — like a feature film.”

Anything that starts with the word "micro" usually leads to disappointment. We'll see.

48 minutes ago, Maxim said:

Anything that starts with the word "micro" usually leads to disappointment. We'll see.

You aren't wrong, but this also seems to be the way of the future. It may give the soap genre the next kick forward that is needed.

I'm also glad they are actually using the word "soap," which is a no-no for some in the industry, to which I say - [!@#$%^&*] those people.

Thanks for the article @Vee . Whatever happens I'm glad P&G is back in the soap game, as much as they will ever be. I still like to tell myself this is a fed up Irna Phillips using her supernatural abilities but that's very glib - there are some people at P&G who are seemingly making moves and I appreciate them.

This may also mean that BtG is doing well enough for P&G to not pull back yet.

I know you were very into the idea of short-length episodic soaps, so I thought this might be of particular interest to you.

P&G has definitely not been shy about heavily promoting product in BTG with a subtlety that makes any soap after the '60s look restrained lol. Fortunately the audience seems to have taken to the kitsch of it.

I just hope everyone involved knows how to tell a good story, because if this new venture is anything like the other micro-dramas that I've watched with my mom....!

Hmmmm... interesting

BTW, does anyone know who's involved with this project BTS? Were any present or former soap creatives involved?

Soaps used to be 15 minutes so I think as long as each episode has something interesting happening in each episode... those 50 episodes will fly by.

Look at Procter and Gamble! Truly trying to get back in the soap game!

16 hours ago, Maxim said:

Anything that starts with the word "micro" usually leads to disappointment. We'll see.

🤣

I'm excited for this!

Interesting concept. Personally, I prefer longer content but maybe it's because I'm from the older generation. lol. Either way, I hope it works. Seeing P&G at least trying makes me happy. This can only lead to more positive things if it's successful.

I kind of agree that if P&G didn't see BTG as having been a success with its launch it wouldn't be trying other forms of "soap".

Interesting story (as in, not interesting at all 😂), a friend and I were in the very early stages of developing a mini series of very short parts (2-3 minutes each) but the pandemic happened and then life. I guess the true desire wasn’t there.

I’ve been doing a lot of research into ‘vertical dramas’ and I wonder if this P&G enterprise is going to follow those lines.

21 minutes ago, LondonScribe said:

Interesting story (as in, not interesting at all 😂), a friend and I were in the very early stages of developing a mini series of very short parts (2-3 minutes each) but the pandemic happened and then life. I guess the true desire wasn’t there.

I’ve been doing a lot of research into ‘vertical dramas’ and I wonder if this P&G enterprise is going to follow those lines.

Maybe you can reboot it now. The market seems to be there.