For decades, CBS was known as the “Tiffany Network.” Now, CBS president/chief marketing officer Mike Benson is prepared to “break some Tiffany glass.”

The executive, who has been giving CBS a modern image since taking the reins in 2019, has now shifted his focus to its comedy brand. Coinciding with the fall launch of the Eye network's four comedies, Benson has unveiled the campaign “You’re Laughing at CBS.”

“People will say that CBS is old and stodgy, but actually, if you look at our programming, it’s really not,” Benson said. “I think we’ve got a lot of work to do, from a brand perspective, to show that we can have a lot of fun. That we are willing to poke fun at ourselves as much as we want people to come in and laugh at the shows that we’ve got.”

The “You’re Laughing at CBS” slogan will highlight returning hits “ Ghosts ” and “ The Neighborhood ,” as well as the new “Young Sheldon” spinoff “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” and the debut Damon Wayans/Damon Wayans Jr. comedy “Poppa’s House.”

“We thought this was a great opportunity to enhance the brand with our strong comedy lineup and draw more attention to it,” Benson said. “We came up with the idea, ‘You’re laughing with CBS,’ but then I wanted to be bold and have some fun with it.”

As part of this new comedy brand, CBS is also introducing a smiling version of its Eye logo — which it has nicknamed “Chuckle.” (And yes, that’s a clever nod to the “Chuckles the Clown” character from CBS’ “Mary Tyler Moore” show.)

“We’re going to use this ‘Chuckles’ logo on all of our comedies to show they're guaranteed to be funny,” Benson said. “And we want viewers to start recognizing the laughing CBS eye symbol.”

Additionally, Benson mentioned that CBS will begin using the term “sit-down” comedy instead of “sitcom,” aiming to distinguish it from the abundance of “stand-up” comedy found on other platforms.

“There’s a lot of stand-up comedy out there,” he said. “But we are looking at this not from the perspective of what comedians do, but from the standpoint of the value we provide our audience almost every day.”

CBS will launch the comedy rebranding with an event on Wednesday, September 18, at the NeueHouse in Hollywood (located in the same building that was once CBS’ original West Coast headquarters). “CBS Presents: You’re Laughing at CBS, A Night of ‘Sit-Down’ Comedy” will feature “The Neighborhood” star Max Greenfield and “Poppa’s House” star Damon Wayans Jr. introducing a night of screenings and Q&A sessions.

The “You’re Laughing at CBS” branding will also be seen in on-air and social media promotions, featuring content from the network’s comedy casts. Currently, the branding is focused on these four shows, but Benson indicated that it could potentially expand to late-night programming and hour-long comedies with comedic leanings, such as “Elsbeth.”

The “You’re Laughing at CBS” slogan shares a similar sense of humor with Netflix’s “Netflix is a Joke” comedy tagline, employing a playful and ironic wordplay.

“Netflix has a knack for excellent marketing, and I thought their strategy for stand-up comedy was truly fitting for them,” Benson remarked. “It served as a good reminder that sometimes your campaigns need to be as bold and loud as the programming itself.”

“Ghosts” and “George & Mandy’s First Marriage” both debut on Tuesday, Oct. 17, while “Poppa’s House” and “The Neighborhood” premiere on Monday, Oct. 21.

Beyond these, Benson mentioned CBS has marketing strategies in place for new series including Kathy Bates’ “Matlock,” the “NCIS” prequel “NCIS: Origins” and the unscripted series “The Summit.”

“We have a really great and thought-provoking campaign that stays true to the spirit of the show ‘Matlock,’ but also starts to position Kathy Bates as someone who may not be the Matlock you expect, because there’s a surprising twist at the end of the pilot… and with ‘NCIS: Origins,’ Leroy Jethro Gibbs is a character all NCIS fans know, but we truly want to build this sense of mystery around who and what he is.”

It’s been a year since the Hollywood strikes disrupted the previous TV season, and the presidential election has also been a distraction for viewers. Therefore, marketers like Benson are aware that they have a significant task ahead to draw in audiences. “It’s been a major challenge, and strategically, it was crucial for us to bring football back,” he explained. “I’m not just talking about the NFL; we invested a lot of effort in bringing back both the Big Ten and the NFL, and then use those as platforms to generate the reach we need to build enthusiasm for fall.”

Here’s a first look at the CBS promotional campaign for “You’re Laughing at CBS”: