Television & New Media 2016, Vol. 17(6) 504–519 © The Author(s) 2016 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1527476416647495 tvn.sagepub.com Article Extended “Visiting Hours”: Deconstructing Identity in Netflix’s Promotional Campaigns for Orange Is the New Black Lauren J. DeCarvalho 1 and Nicole B. Cox 2 Abstract This article interrogates Netflix’s use of unconventional marketing strategies for season 2 of Orange Is the New Black (OITNB), and argues that the company takes a mixed approach to cast a wider net for potential subscribers. One campaign emphasizes stereotypes that the program itself problematizes, and another humanizes the images of real-life incarcerated women. Using feminist textual analysis, we explore these campaigns in relation to intersectionality and analyze the construction of intersectional identities within Netflix’s two promotional campaigns: The New York Times’ paid promotional content “Women Inmates: Why the Male Model Doesn’t Work” and the “Crazy Pyes” food truck campaign. Applying theoretical work from scholars such as Lotz and Gray, we discuss the ideological messaging of the campaigns, and examine how Netflix commodifies images of OITNB’s incarcerated, female characters, and also images of actual incarcerated women— and how these images function in exchange for viewership for Netflix and OITNB. Keywords feminist media studies, Orange Is the New Black, Netflix, marketing, intersectionality, identity Introduction On June 12, 2014, New Yorkers stood in line for free dessert in the SoHo area of Lower Manhattan. A food truck labeled “Crazy Pyes” spent the next three days making 1 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA 2 Valdosta State University, GA, USA Corresponding Author: Lauren J. DeCarvalho, University of Arkansas, 417 Kimpel Hall, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA. Email: ljdecarv@uark.edu 647495TVN XX X 10.1177/1527476416647495Television & New MediaDeCarvalho and Cox research-article 2016 at UNIV OF PENNSYLVANIA on November 27, 2016 tvn.sagepub.com Downloaded from