Fun on a Friday -- You Dummy! (Sneak Preview Super Bowl ad)

My husband laughed so hard at this spot we had to rewind several times to catch some of the lines. He was particularly fond of "You Dummy!" shouted at the hapless cubicle dweller.

I'm one of those people who watch the Super Bowl for the ads (although now I just look them all up online the next day). CareerBuilder's taken it a step further -- and increased their buzz -- by releasing their ad ahead of time. Lots of web chatter, lots of YouTube views. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

YouTube - CareerBuilder.com Super Bowl 2009 commercial - 30 second sneak preview!

Susan Lucci Caught Up in Detroit Drama - Advertising Age

When the car industry suffers, the media suffer, too. Why? Because the auto industry is one of the largest advertisers on television and print. When I worked in television during a recession, our sales reps took a big hit when the local car dealers cut back on their ads.

But it's not just the advertising sales departments that are suffering. Apparently, all that declining revenue has hit the production budgets, too. Big name t.v. celebs like Susan Lucci are taking pay cuts and others are losing their jobs altogether. Even a fixture like Deidre Hall, who has been on "Days of Our Lives" for over 30 years are gone. (They didn't even bother to cut her salary, like Lucci; they just got rid of her altogether.)

Susan Lucci Caught Up in Detroit Drama - Advertising Age - Madison+Vine: News

Fast Forwarding Through Commercials

Can you name five t.v. commercials off the top of your head? How about five newspaper ads? A few years ago, I used to ask this question whenever I gave a talk on advertising. Few people could recall print or radio ads, but almost everybody could remember some of that year's hottest t.v. commercials. But those days are long gone. Since we have become a TiVo-obsessed nation, a full 2/3 of us with digital video recording capabilities simply fast forward through the spots.

This is great for those of us who are impatient and prefer our programming commercial-free, but it presents obvious problems to the networks who are able to provide that programming by charging advertisers to put their messages in front of us consumers. Today, advertisers are demanding to know not just what the show's rating is, but how many people actually viewed their commercials. We are all waiting to see how this new ratings system will unfold.

In the meantime, some savvy advertisers have started putting secret messages in their spots encouraging viewers to pause their TiVos and get clues.