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The rooibos tea industry is missing a terrific product - placement opportunity. HBO is launching The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, a seven - episode drama adapted from Alexander McCall Smith's best - selling novels about a full - figured sleuth in Botswana. In the two - hour pilot, investigator Precious Ramotswe (AKA Mma Ramotswe) and her acquaintances putter about their business, drinking in-numerable cups of bush tea--another name for rooibos, a caffeine-free beverage derived from a southern African shrub. The show's narrative pace is relaxed, the camera work bright, busy, and atmospheric: there might easily be room for a few shrewdly placed shots of logo - emblazoned packaging, promoting specific tea brands.
