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      Just a little thought about digital video recorders and advertising
                                        
Bunny's had a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) for a couple of months now, and
it's gotten to the point where watching live TV (Television) is annoying,
especially because of the “30-second fast-forward” button (press it, it goes
fast-forward through 30 seconds worth of video). It's not an immedate jump—
no, it actually fast forwards. 

Now, I'm amazed that advertisers haven't attempted to make a commercial
that's watchable when fast-forwarding. I timed the “30-second fast-forward”
button, and it takes 3 seconds to skip forward 30 seconds of video. 10-to-1
compression. Okay, what can one do in just three seconds? 

What can one do in ten seconds [1]? (for the record, I heard about that
contest over a year ago) I came up with a few ideas that had an actual
narrative structure, and just a few days ago, I realized I could probably do
an entire Ernest Hemingway short story [2] in 10 seconds. Three seconds is
more than enough for brand building. 

It's just a matter of time before some advertiser tries this. 

[1] http://www.tensecondfilms.com/
[2] http://boogaj.typepad.com/pete_lit/2005/07/sixword_stories.html

Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

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