I can already tell I am going to be all over the board on this post. This is mainly due to the fact the topic today is about commercials/advertisements and I extremely dislike them – normally I would have used the hay8 word but I am trying to narrow the use of that label to special situations (like Sprint) otherwise it tends to get watered down. I should probably backup and put some perspective on this. For probably 10 years now, every time I get a magazine, I take 2 minutes to rip out every double page ad in it. This leaves a muuuuchh thinner magazine with very little distractions, including those ridiculous cologne samples. Secondly, I rarely listen to any commercial on the radio – there are multiple (non-satellite) stations I listen to in the car and since the controls are now conveniently located behind the steering wheel, it is even easier to skip through the stations. That is when I choose to listen to the radio instead of podcasts and audio books. Lastly, I use a computer to PVR all of my TV shows and watch them later in the night or week. That tiny little button labeled “skip” jumps 30 seconds ahead so a few clicks of that and I am back into the show adding productive hours to my week. Getting the picture here? As a note, when Ted Turner claimed I was stealing his money by doing this I swore to never watch TNT again (and true to my word).
If you are in the marketing creation business, you might want to rethink your approach if you plan to sell me something. As a suggestion, you might want to consider the in show product approach – if you are selling soda, you might want to push to have an actor drink from a can (with trademark visible) in the middle of a suspenseful moment or have an actress get into a specific SUV and hit the OnStar button before the villain raises up from the back seat — think the movie Demolition Man and Taco Bell (as you can see that worked)
But I admit, there is a small window in the morning when I choose to sit (actually stand) through commercials. That time is in the morning getting ready for work. I need to know what to wear so the TV is generally on to get the latest updates. Unfortunately, every once in awhile a commercial comes on that freezes me in my tracks – not because it is actually worth watching, but rather in the “What were they thinking” category.
One of these moments happened yesterday.
Life Intrigued 