goldengod

teLivEsion by Esther_G

The New York Times recently published an interesting article about targeted advertising being used for television, among other things. The article focuses on recent Wendy’s commercials, which react to events that just happened in college football games. It also explores how households with pets (for example) will be shown more pet-related ads than another household, even if they’re right beside each other.

The first half of the article focuses on new technology that allows television advertisers to film multiple different versions of the same commercial and then choose which will be shown, minutes before the ad would be broadcast. This allows the raccoons in Wendy’s television ads to comment on what has just occurred in the game or show that the viewer’s watching.

The Wendy’s ads will reflect events in the football games, creating what ad executives call a reverse product placement of sorts. Instead of putting Frostys or Wendy’s fries into a TV program, the company will incorporate a show’s content in its commercials.

Unfortunately, it appears that it is being used in addition to in-show product placement, not as a substitute. If it were a replacement, I’d be a lot more enthused about this idea. Product placement in movies or shows has always irked me, since the days of E.T. and his Reese’s Pieces. I feel I should be compensated, with cheaper movie tickets or whatever else, for the fact that I have to sit through an ad that I didn’t know would be forced upon me. It’s like going to see a play and having someone dump a crying baby in your lap halfway through the first act. Who the hell wants to deal with that at all, let alone for free?

Perhaps I come at this from a strange perspective, but I find myself thinking ‘I wonder how this will affect what is shown at the Cannes Advertising Film Festival?’ Will they show the funniest version, or all versions? Will it even catch on enough to have an impact?

Traveling Without Moving
by Fred Armitage

The second half of the article deals with targeted or contextual ads. If you’re not familiar with these, they are what you look at every time you go online. Essentially, if you’re on a website that’s all about ostrich fucking, the ads that will run in the sidebars are probably going to be for other ostrich-fucking related sites. Or supply stores, whatever. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not all that knowledgeable on the mechanics of ornithological intercourse.

For the first time, this technique is possible on televisions. Rather than television advertisers having to stratify their advertising based solely on geographic location, they can vary it based on a database containing highly detailed profiles of the household. I find this stuff fascinating, but it’s also intensely creepy and violating. I can also imagine a lot of awkward situations where your friends come over to watch TV and get a glimpse into your hidden desires.

I find myself no longer treating this endless progress of ads as a force that must be stopped at all costs. Instead, I gaze upon it with a fond but tolerable amusement, like a toddler playing with mommy’s massage wand.