You've probably heard about TiVo _ a digital recording device (and service) available to replace the VCR. Considering the popularity of DVDs for prerecorded entertainment, TiVo is the recordable digital counterpart, allowing you to record shows and movies off of television without resorting to VHS tapes. And as TiVo allows viewers to fast-forward through commercials with ease, it may soon change the face of broadcast advertising.
Sure, this is the same idea that sprang up with the introduction of the VCR, and the "revolution" never occurred. Some people started taping their favorite shows rather than sit through commercials, but most kept tuning in at the same time every week. This lack of change occurred more because of the hassle involved with taping a show than because of a fanatical devotion to seeing a given show at the scheduled time. Commercials aren't enough of a distraction to justify planning every program ahead of time.
TiVo is not a mere digital VCR, however. It's as much a service as a product. It can record programs automatically every week, doesn't require tapes and allows for higher rewind and fast-forward speeds (think of the difference between VHS and DVD). The TiVo service isn't free _ you have to pay for it on top of the cost of the unit _ but it eliminates VCR-programming hassles. These small conveniences help make it a viable alternative to watching television the old-fashioned way.
Even more promising: you can watch a show even as it's being recorded. Have TiVo record The Simpsons at 8. If you start watching ten minutes later, you can fast-forward through all the commercials and still finish at 8:30 like everyone else. Spend those ten minutes doing the dishes or reading the newspaper or (gasp!) talking to someone instead of watching the latest Burger King ad.
TiVo turns television into an on-demand resource. Set your own schedule and skip everything you don't want to see. Think of the advantages for movies on television. You'll get more use than ever out of movie channels: Record a movie this week and watch it with your friends next week. Watch Mrs. Doubtfire on Fox and skip all the commercials.
This is bad news for advertisers because they will lose their target viewers: young, upscale professionals _ those most likely to buy TiVo. This cash-heavy and spendthrift slice of the population won't see enough television advertisements to make the ads themselves worthwhile. Because given a real job with a real salary, a $200 box and a $13 per month service charge (TiVo's price) isn't all that much.
Commercials won't die _ sports and news programs still demand live, to-the-minute content, and people will sit through ads in order to get that content. No Patriots fan will wait an extra hour each week before watching the game; his friends would know the final score before he would!
Outside of live programs, however, commercials will have less impact all the time. What will happen to commercials as their natural audience dwindles? The basic method of advertising will have to change; advertising will have to merge with entertainment so that the two cannot be separated.
First, product placement will become more important than ever. Sure, you see prominent cans of soda and new cars and expensive jewelry in movies today, but television advertising remains the primary tactic. If advertisers can't get you in between segments of shows, they'll find ways to get you during the show. It'll seem vulgar at first to see police officers munching on the new flavor of Doritos on NYPD Blue, but in time it could be as everyday as current commercials. People say that product placement is too blatant to be effective. I say it's a little less blatant than actual commercials, accepted even though they're nothing but short-films that serve as vehicles for advertisements.
I agree that product placement can only go so far, however, and there are other new routes for marketers to take. The season premiere of Fox's 24 had no commercials at all, only bookend reminders that this "special presentation" was sponsored by Ford. This has been done before for such movies as Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List, and I think it's a trend likely to continue as commercials reach fewer and fewer people. If viewers are going to skip the commercials anyway, why not skip them to begin with and make sure they know who did them the favor? Network television will become like HBO...only provided courtesy of Coca-Cola.
BMW's marketing films foreshadow the most interesting possibility of all: full-scale sponsored entertainment. The car manufacturer has produced a variety of short films by Hollywood directors like Ang Lee, Guy Ritchie and Tony Scott, and put them up for free on the Internet (www.bmwfilms.com). These are sharp, sweet cinematic candy of the finest sort _ slick and fast and short enough to watch on any computer. The films' true stars, however, are invariably the cars. BMW has managed to draw millions of people in to watch BMW commercials voluntarily.
This is the truest and purest direction of future advertising and entertainment. Rather than pay high rates for competitive timeslots on television, advertisers can sink their money into making actual entertainment designed around their products and turn a crass commercial venture into something respectable. Imagine the taglines: "A tense family drama from Reebok." "Budweiser's best comedy yet!" "Another gripping legal thriller from Hugo Boss."
It sounds funny, but it makes good sense _ and companies like Nike have been making their commercials edgy and artistic for years. Why not just call it sponsored entertainment and be done with it? There's no need to deny the film's sponsorship; just make a good movie and let the good will it produces sell your products for you. Product placement wouldn't be obnoxious anymore; it'd just be in keeping with the theme of the movie or show.
And no, I don't think this cheapens the artistic value of filmmaking. Movies and TV programs are made for the sake of profit already, yet artistic merit remains. Being brutally honest about where the film's funding comes from doesn't mean it can't say something worthwhile or at least entertain you for an afternoon.
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