• October 30, 2008

An undisclosed soft drink maker will begin shooting a commercial in 3D that soon could surface on television and movie-theater screens across the U.S., and possibly online, too, according to one source in the know.

The ad, shot initially in anaglyph mode, will likely require the old-style blue and red glasses, according to an industry source. The trend toward creating ads for TV, theater and online will increase as Walt Disney Pictures and others continue to release 3D movies such as the animated comedy adventure BOLT, which opens Nov. 21, in more than 1,000 theatres. There are 14 movies scheduled for release next year in 3D. 3D movie trailers and soft drink and snack ads will likely precede them.

"Since movies will screen in 3D, if you're Coke, Pepsi, Ford, General Motors or Toyota you would want to create commercials in 3D, so the audience will recall the product a day, weeks or months later," said Marty Shindler, CEO, The Shindler Perspective, a Los Angeles-based consulting firm for the television and movie industries. "In a couple years you'll see a lot of 3D on TV, but it might take a few years for online."

Aside from movies screening in theaters, several broadcast events scheduled during the next six months could catapult the popularity of 3D, too. Today, there are about 2 million 3D-enabled TVs in the market. Estimates put between 6 million and 8 million units in consumers' hands by 2009, according to Shindler, who said Samsung, Hyundai, Philips and Mitsubishi are some of the brands manufacturing TVs with the technology. -- Laurie Sullivan