Last year Royal Caribbean sparked a lot of discussion when it paid for a product placement spot in the middle of the Tony Awards, the yearly award show for Broadway shows. This year, Royal Caribbean is back as the official cruise line of the Tony Awards but there won't be a not-so-subtle ad in the middle again.
Last year Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein came out in swimwear and introduced a "Hairspray" number from a Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, which turned out to be a paid sponsorship. The number drew criticism for its in-show commercialism in the otherwise proper Tonys.
Proponents of the segment felt it was done in good taste and helped show off that cruise ship entertainment can be more classy than usually given credit for.
Tony award producer Glenn Weiss commented that there wont be a repeat performance this year, "It's not anything that's being repeated."