Center of Attention (Guster)

I recently saw one of the oddest forms of advertisiCCng on tv yet. I was watching ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ on TBS the other day, and they stopped the program at random points to advertise The Bill Engvall Show. According to the little man that was in the corner of my screen promoting this show, ‘The Bill Engvall Show’ has a similar plotline but seems less “New York” and more “Middle America”. The basic premise behind the ad, however, was this: They froze the show that was airing in mid-sentence and had the star of the new series pop in to plug his new show. The first time I saw it, I thought the show was over and he was using the credit time to promote his new show. But when the show started up again, I noticed the show was not yet over and realized that I had just experienced a new type of advertising.
In doing this, the ad immediately draws your attention to the program being advertised by forcing you to see what caused the interruption. In an era where commercials can be fast-forwarded with our digital recorders and channels are surfed away from the minute a show ends, this new ad technique makes the viewer stop and pay attention for a few seconds.
While slightly annoying, it served its purpose and delivered its intended message. The spoiled tv watcher in me, however, hopes this doesn’t become the norm. One of my favorite reasons for having a Tivo is my ability to skip an ad I’ve seen over and over again…as some stations (TBS, I’m looking your way) have been known to do.