Introduction advertising unit Structure

5.5.2 Could Game play Combat TV Ad Zapping and Zipping 
Game play during commercials may be an effective way to get 
more people to pay attention to sponsored ads on broadcast 
television. Interestingly, it is very rare to see any type of contest or 
game-like promotion to reward people for watching commercials, 
even though that behavior is highly desirable to broadcast 
advertisers. 
Can game play be used as incentives for attentive T.V.. 
commercial viewing? Could games help television advertisers 
cultivate the interactive engagement and motivation that lead to 
direct response after ads are viewed?

---

70 
Are commercial games rare because games were not effective 
in this role in the past? Or is it because so many marketers assume 
any type of game has to involve an expensive prize or legal 
consultation to make sure the promotion is on the right side of 
gambling and lottery laws?
What types of games would be compelling during live 
broadcast commercial breaks? What issues would need to be 
addressed to prevent people who did not watch the commercial 
from simply scraping the commercial contents from a web resource 
after the actual broadcast?
5.5.3 Zapping and Zipping Commercials into Extinction : 
 
Since the development of the home VCR, advertisers have 
been concerned with zipping-fast forwarding through commercials 
during recordings of sponsored television programs. Newer 
technologies have only increased advertiser paranoia that 
television viewers are prerecording shows and then skipping the 
commercial breaks. A similar concern was raised with the advent of 
remote controls which let users change the channel during 
commercial breaks with very little physical effort (zapping). 
When advertisers complained, the television networks 
produced studies that showed viewers were already avoiding 
annoying or boring commercials by leaving the room or otherwise 
diverting attention during commercial breaks regardless of the 
remote control or recording devices. The general result was that big 
brands had to make more interesting commercials or utilize product 
placement and other clever ways to integrate ad messaging into 
television programs. 
More Watchable Commercials = More Expensive Commercials 
Commercial production values are often very good. Feature-
film quality t.v. commercials are not uncommon today and some 
commercials are enjoyable enough that they can function as short-
form programming (these top-shelf commercials tend to go viral 
online too). Many commercials have been episodic or featured 
some type of comedy skit to keep viewers from zapping or zipping 
away.