Last night, while watching the WMAQ-TV (NBC) local news following the NFL Sunday Night Football telecast I saw something I'd never seen before. The entire ad segment was car ads. First there was an Acura ad, followed by a (rare) Volvo spot, then Dodge, Mazda and Lexus ads.
In the old days, if an ad for a product within the same category was to air in the same break "make goods" were offered and it usually meant at least a 2-1 ratio would be offered to make up for the error. I know that practice is no longer enforced as it was but five in a row seems bizarre. There is no way a consumer will remember the end of year offers that each promoted unless they were specifically interested that particular car.
It seems the broadcast advertising industry, long in decline, has committed itself to a self destructive path of devaluing its own product by stringing together a series of competitive ads that will yield few, if any, results for the advertisers, thus diminishing the likelihood that more ads will be placed.
Had I not gone back via TiVo to review the order of the ads I would not have been able to recall how many ran or in what order. The low financing and lease offers all blurred together. Five ads, all a waste from my perspective. On second thought, since I TiVo almost everything I watch except live sporting events, I've gotten pretty good at flashing through ad segments altogether when I'm not studying specifically to gain perspective as a brand professional.
Add this experience to my reasons why I am glad I left advertising years ago.
