Pop-up Ads Coming to A TV Near You

"Muddie writes 'The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that television execs and advertising agencies think product placement and the 30 second commercial spot are not getting the respect they deserves from us consumers, so in order to combat us ignoring them, there will be pop-up ads taking up the lower quarter of your screen during normal programming. Not only that, but the ads will run during relevant portions of the programming (see a guy shaving in the mirror, get a pop-up ad from a razor company). Do 'They' think we just don't see enough advertising in a day? If you aren't busy throwing things through your television yet, you can read the article over here (with no pop-up ads).' " [Slashdot]

Okay television executives - make up your minds! Is it a contract that programming is free and pure and commercials come in-between, or are you dropping the lawsuit against SonicBlue's ReplayTV digital video recorders because it can ignore commercials? You don't get to have it both ways.

Actually, I don't mind this kind of advertising on TV, mainly because I'm only paying partial attention anyway, and I'll learn to ignore them just like I do ads on web sites. After all, if I can ignore the ubiquitous flashing monkey, I can handle this. I'm all for them exploring alternative advertising models and moving forward.