• by Amanda , December 6, 2007

Bloggers and professionals in the media industry have been discussing lower-third advertisements and fly-ins lately, and I felt the need to share a personal experience which might offer insight into what the audience actually thinks.

This week, a roommate and I sat down to watch a Christmas movie– something we usually don't have time to do. Because of this, I think we were both caught off guard when the entire lower third of our TV screen was taken over by an advertisement for some upcoming crime-investigation show. I can’t remember the show name – I just remember being irritated.

I understand that ad avoidance seems to have scared everyone in the advertising industry into testing out new strategies for station and product promotions, but interrupting television content is not the way to go. The ad cut off the bottom third of the movie! I noticed (and was annoyed by) the advertisement the first time it showed up, and then actively ignored the constant stream of similar advertisements which appeared in the same way. I cannot remember if the content changed because the ploy lost its efficacy after the first disruption. Instead of paying attention, I was prompted to change the channel or scour the house for a DVD copy of the movie we were watching.

I do not mind fly-in ads, or even narrow lower third ads; sometimes I even look to those areas to find future show times. But covering up whole sections of on-screen content to promote something else is too similar to cutting to commercial break in the middle of a show or movie scene. I can tell you from personal experience it certainly did not make me want to watch anything on that station for a while.