Monday, February 27, 2006

Must Buy Wheaties... Must Buy Wheaties...

NEWS.COM -- For years, fake ads have appeared during sporting events. By fake I mean they really weren't there. Watching a baseball game, you might see a banner on an infield wall for a product or service, but if you were at the game, you wouldn't see that banner, because it wasn't there, added by a computer as the game was being broadcast. The potential was there to even show different ads to different markets.

Now that same technology is being utilized to insert products into prime-time shows. Before, you'd have to get your advertising lined up in advance so that the box of Wheaties was sitting on the counter when the show was filmed. Now the technology is allowing them to insert products into shows at the last minute, even replacing them with different products later when the show goes into re-runs. Apparently as a "CSI:" and "How I Met Your Mother" viewer, I've been subjected to this already and don't even realize it. Was it an episode of CSI: or driving a rental that may me appreciate the Chevy Trailblazer? Now I might never know. More...

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