What are over-content ads?

"Flash Ads" on Cable Television

• I have noticed an increasing tendency for cable broadcasters to include a short (few frame), still ad between the series of normal advertisements and the continuation of programming. To make this a little more concrete, let me describe the phenomenon: A cable program is running and breaks for commercials. The channel runs the traditional sequence of 15- to 30-second ads (or whatever the duration). Then, right before the programming starts again, an ad flashes up on the screen for a fraction of a second. When I first noticed this, I though it was a truncation issue between the network and the local cable provider. My thinking was that the local cable company might be contractually able to replace one or more of the network-fed ads with local spots. In doing so, they might have time-shifted the network ads, and then, because of a slight synchronization problem, the viewer would see the truncated beginning of a network ad that was eliminated. This theory was blown to pieces when I studied the phenomenon in slow motion. I?m clearly seeing ads. Furthermore, they?re specifically designed to be shown as described. Sometimes they?re simply a company?s logo. In addition a brief tag line, phone number, and/or URL may be added. The duration involved in this technique is very interesting. As mentioned, the ads flash up only for a few frames (literally a fraction of a second). As they are consciously perceived, I would argue that they are clearly not subliminal. However, they flash up so quickly, that anything beyond a familiar logo does not appear to be mentally assimilated (i.e., a viewer cannot possibly linguistically decode the tag line). There appears to be advertiser-commonality between these ?flash-ads? and the full duration ads that the channel runs. That is, if the channel runs a 30-second spot for XYZ Corp, then they will (at a different time) run a ?flash-ad? for XYZ Corp. I?m guessing, therefore, that the idea is to slip these into the ?blank gap? between programming and commercials, so as to reinforce the message of the normal-duration ads. This all seems a bit insidious to me, but I can?t find any mention of it on the Web. This is probably because I don?t know what the technique is called. Not knowing what it?s called, I?ve used the search terms ?television/TV? and ?advertising/ad? with modifiers such as ?few/two/three frames,? ?gap,? ?blank,? etc. All of this with no luck. Here are my questions in descending order of importance (if you?ll answer the first, I can probably research the latter two, but an answer to all three would be nice): 1. What is technique called, and where can find more information about it? 2. It is being used to compensate for the ad-avoidance possible through digital recording devices? I seem to remember that for such devices to work automatically, they must be able to ?see? the blank gap between ads and programming. If these ?flash ads? fall within that gap, perhaps they can?t be avoided, or perhaps they even throw the whole process. 3. I seem to recall there is a technical name for the blank gap between ads and programming. I also seem to recall that the FCC was very specific about the duration of the gap (otherwise ads would nebulously bleed into the programming). What is the technical name of the gap? Aren?t these ads violating the whole concept?

• Answer:

  Hi, These are called, rather appropriately, one-second commercials. They started in 1998 here in the United States, with very little fan fair, and have been used since that time. I?ve found references to a United Kingdom newspaper story on several blog sites, but since the article itself is so old, it is off that newspaper?s main site. The first company to run these ads was apparently Master Lock, June 1998. Since then several companies, Coca Cola, Pepsi and others have used these one-second spots. There is very little commentary about these ads in the main-stream media, though for a while ?subliminal message? sites were posting commentary on them. They are not illegal, and various reasons are given for using these fast spots, the most common is price. A company, such as Master Lock or Pepsi, has a well recognized branding, and a single second is all they need to get the concept across. The biggest reason I can find for the lack of fanfare and questions about these ads, is that most of the time, companies have found very little return in investment from the one-second add. Master Lock for instance has quit using them. Periodically companies will try them, but not for very long. But, as I said earlier, they are not illegal, or against FCC standards, so using them or selling them is not a legal issue. The biggest ?threat? for ad-avoidance right now is rated TV spots. Commercials are not ?rated?, because rating them cost money, a great deal of money. So filters right now, to get all commercials, are simply blocking any ?non-rated? event that comes across the cable. News broadcasts and other live shows are not generally rated either, but you can turn the filtering off, with a few clicks of the remote and watch those when you want to. There is quite a great deal of pressure to get laws pass which dis-allow any filtering of commercial content, but with the rating idea, an FCC law would have to be repealed first, and then new laws installed. The Black Spot you are referring to, has several technical names, and as you have guessed it is all but a myth these days. Many stations still use it, a frame brake of black area. But again, this is not your culprit for the one-second ad, which are basic, time paid, time shown one-second ads, no trickery needed at all. To get the best information on these ad spots, simply call your local cable company and ask if they have them available, what the costs are, and if they have any literature, which might give you an idea of what the benefits are for your company. Most ad sales people are happy to burden you with a great deal of information on these subjects. Links of Interest http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2003/0929/076.html Is the V-Chip A Stealth Weapon Against Commercials? http://www.fair.org/media-beat/980806.html Brandweek.com http://www.brandweek.com/brandweek/search_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=2071793 FCC 98-35 CS Docket N. 97-55 ://www.google.com.ni/search?sourceid=mozclient&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&q=FCC+98-35+CS+Docket+N.+97-55 Slash Dot Book: Review Hacking TiVo http://books.slashdot.org/books/03/10/15/129224.shtml?tid=188 Google Search on VCR ?Commercial Advance? ://www.google.com.ni/search?num=100&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&q=VCR+%22Commercial+Advance%22&btnG=Google+Search Thanks, webadept-ga