DISH USING ADS FOR HOPPER DVR — WHICH SKIPS ADS

DISH Network is using advertisements to tout its anti-advertisement technology, Auto Hop. The campaign features a demonstration of the new Hopper DVR with Sling that allows DISH’s subscribers not only to watch programs they have recorded without commercials on their TV sets but also on their smartphones, tablets, and personal computers. One spot begins with […]

SHATNER’S NEGOTIATOR RETURNS FROM THE DEAD

Priceline may have killed off William Shatner’s braggart “Negotiator” character in its television commercials eight months ago (after helping to rescue his fellow passengers, he went down in flames off a cliff in a tour bus), but it never did kill him off on its website. And now the online travel service is bringing him […]

APPLE’S TV SPOTS ASSAILED

On the heels of a disappointing quarterly earnings report, Apple is now taking a drubbing for its current round of television commercials featuring an Apple “genius” dispensing advice to Macintosh buyers about how to use their laptops. Several bloggers mentioned that they doubted the spots would ever have received a stamp of approval from Steve […]

SPANISH BANK COMMERCIAL DRAWS MILLIONS ON THE WEB

Spain’s fifth-largest bank, the 130-year-old Banco Sabadell, has used the anthem of the European Union, Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” from his Ninth Symphony, to create a commercial that has gone viral on the Internet (2.1 million views on YouTube as of Saturday morning). The so-called flashmob gathered for the ad’s production included 100 participants from […]

SHATNER’S PRICELINE NEGOTIATOR KILLED OFF

Less than a year after William Shatner’s $#!? My Dad Says was killed off after its first, low-rated season, his character, “The Negotiator,” in Priceline commercials, has died a fiery death — literally. Priceline has begun airing a new commercial in which Shatner, who has acted as the company’s iconic frontman for 14 years, is […]

CHICAGO ADVERTISER REMOVES ANCHORS FROM SPOTS

WBBM, the CBS-owned station in Chicago, said today that a Chicago-area furniture company did not have permission to use footage of news anchors Walter Jacobson and Bill Kurtis in a commercial that doubled as a tribute to outgoing Mayor Richard M. Daley. The commercial shows clips of numerous personalities — including former President George W. […]

NFL BLOCKS TOYOTA AD ON PREVENTING BRAIN INJURIES

The NFL asked Toyota to halt continued use of a TV commercial that discussed helmet-to-helmet hits after it aired on ESPN’s Monday Night Football, Reuters reported on Wednesday. In the ad, Wake Forest University professors described the way Toyota technology simulating the way drivers are injured in auto accidents could prevent brain injuries in football. […]

BLOCKBUSTER LAUNCHES “WHY WAIT?” CAMPAIGN

Making the most of the fact that unlike rivals Netflix and Redbox, Blockbuster does not have to wait 28 days before making all DVD and Blu-ray Discs available for rent on the day they are released, Blockbuster has produced two “Why Wait?”-themed commercials that are due to air during ABC’s Nov. 22 Dancing with the […]

O’BRIEN PAID $1 MILLION FOR AMERICAN EXPRESS COMMERCIAL

American Express Co. has paid Conan O’Brien $1 million to appear in a commercial that begins airing tonight (Monday), the same day that he launches his new television show on TBS, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The ad, in which O’Brien spoofs his own reputation for overseeing the smallest details of his shows, plants […]

TV ADS COST LESS IN FIRST HALF OF 2010

The average 30-second spot on network television cost $104,051 during the first six months of this year, down about 10 percent from the same period a year ago, according to MediaWeek magazine, which cited figures from TargetCast. Fox commanded the highest unit price, $200,008 per spot, while those for ABC and CBS went for an […]