• by Paul Gough , August 1, 2002

The jury’s still out, but a series of experimental ads that appeared during relevant portions of TNT movies could help the TV industry fight the rise of digital video recorders and other commercial-skipping technology.

The ads didn’t pop up as much as they filled the bottom fifth of TV screens the way CNN, ESPN and Oxygen use their bottom screens to impart information like news headlines and sports scores. But it’s apparently one of the first uses of these types of ads.

American Express Financial Advisers, a division of American Express, paid an unspecified amount for the ads that ran about a dozen times in movie broadcast on TNT between April and June. The ad appeared at the bottom of the screen for 10 seconds four times per movie.

“It was used as a tactic to provide a new way to get messages out to the audience depicting what we do,” said American Express spokeswoman Desiree Fish.

The movies, all flicks from the mid-1980s to mid-1990s, were: “Baby Boom,” starring Diana Keaton and Sam Shepherd; “It Could Happen To You,” with Nicolas Cage and Bridget Fonda; “Stepmom,” with Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon; “Betsy’s Wedding,” with Alan Alda and Molly Ringwald; “Overboard,” with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell; “When Harry Met Sally,” with Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan; “The Secret of My Success” with Michael J. Fox and Helen Shaver; “Father of the Bride II” with Keaton and Steve Martin; and “Sleepless in Seattle” with Ryan and Tom Hanks.

The ads that popped up during “Baby Boom” and “Father of the Bride II” talked about how American Express Financial Advisers could help with planning surrounding a new baby. One ad read: “Having a Baby? Need Financial Advice?” Then viewers were directed to either an 800-number or the AMEX Web site.

“It wasn’t a huge, lengthy message,” Fish said. “It was short and sweet.”

Other messages included what to do when you come into a lot of money (“It Could Happen To You”); paying for a wedding (“Betsy’s Wedding”); raising a family (“Overboard” and “Stepmom”); getting ready for a long-term commitment (“When Harry Met Sally”) and long-term investing (“The Secret of My Success”).

American Express saw the letterbox opportunity as a way to tie advertising messages into real-life situations that would resonate with consumers.

“It made sense,” Fish said. “It was a message they would relate to.”

Fish said AMEX was happy with the results of the direct-response campaign.

For its part, TNT isn’t talking much about what they term an experiment that may or may not return.

“This was a trial,” said a TNT spokesman. “We’ll be researching it.”

TNT declined to discuss whether the letterbox advertising would be a way to circumvent the commercial-skipping technology of TiVo and other digital video recording services. AMEX said avoiding the dreaded commercial skip wasn’t their reason for using the letterbox ads but acknowledged that the company was always looking for ways their message would stand out.

“We wanted to see a way to break through the clutter and be in content,” Fish said.

Both TNT and AMEX said it was important that the ads weren’t intrusive.

“You do have to make sure it’s the proper balance” between ad and content, said the TNT spokesman. “We’re trying to do some research to find the balance.” Neither AMEX nor TNT reported any complaints about the ads.