new ways to place ads in tv series and movies? "flickering" ad placements spark discussion
2024-09-06
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“i have the impression that this ad wasn’t there when the show was first released, but now it’s being put in the audience’s faces?” on september 5, a netizen was watching the first season of “strange stories of the tang dynasty” on a video platform when he accidentally discovered that there was an advertisement for a certain brand in the show that had not appeared when he watched it before. however, what was strange was that this embedded ad that appeared later was not always there.
what's new here?
product placement can still appear and disappear
the first episode of the ancient costume suspense drama "tang dynasty weird stories" was broadcast in 2022. it is a drama with very good reputation. when netizens rewatched the 27th episode of the drama, they found a product placement advertisement at 19 minutes and 52 seconds that they had never seen before. the advertisement of the brand was made into a flag, trying to keep the style consistent with the quaint streets. it was originally thought that the platform had added advertisements after the broadcast of the drama, but netizens in the comment area found that they did not find the product placement advertisement when they went to watch it. "where did the picture come from? i just went to see it and it was not there?" "i watched it four or five times, and i didn't see this." "i just went to see it, but it was not on my phone." in addition to the 27th episode, other netizens found that there was a similar situation in the 32nd episode of the drama. at 21 minutes and 51 seconds in the 32nd episode, a lantern under the eaves was replaced with a lantern printed with a brand advertisement. the shape of the lantern with the advertisement was completely different from the shape of the lantern on the other side of the eaves. this place was also pointed out by netizens that they had never seen advertisements before.
what's going on? it's the same show at the same playback position, so why do some people see the ad while others don't? the reporter accessed the video platform to watch the show, and after repeatedly clicking on the same position to watch it, he found that the ads that netizens were talking about were indeed "flickering". at 19 minutes and 52 seconds in episode 27, the reporter did not see the embedded ad when he watched it for the first time, and it did not appear when he dragged the progress bar again. he clicked on other episodes to watch for a while, then turned back to episode 27 of the show, and unexpectedly found that the embedded ad appeared. switching the video definition may also trigger the ad. the embedded ad at 21 minutes and 51 seconds in episode 32 is a similar situation. there is a certain probability that a lantern with an embedded ad will appear. judging from the results of multiple attempts, the appearance of the ad seems to be somewhat random, with no obvious pattern, but it is certain that it is indeed a member-exclusive ad, because these episodes are only for members to watch.
some netizens left a message in the comment section, saying that this was an advertisement produced by some kind of new ai technology, and not simply an advertisement inserted into the film source. the reporter also asked the platform's customer service about this issue, and the customer service said that they would provide feedback on the relevant issues.
however, netizens' speculation that the video platform's advertising placement uses ai technology may not be unreasonable. in mid-may this year, the video platform released its unaudited first quarter financial report ending march 31, 2024, which showed that in the first quarter, its online advertising service revenue was 1.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6%. more than half of the brand advertising revenue in that quarter came from content-targeted advertising. the company has already used generative ai tools extensively in its advertising business. advertisers can use these ai tools to automatically generate high-quality advertising materials, and can also make advertising more accurate and personalized, helping advertisers improve traffic monetization efficiency.
advertisements are everywhere
audiences complained that "it's too hard and affects the viewing experience"
regardless of why the embedded ads "appear and disappear", the audience can't help but complain about the ads that appeared later. on the one hand, there are many kinds of ads that members will see on the video platform. there are patch ads before the episodes, pop-up ads in the episodes, and actors in the show advertise in the form of small theaters. the barrage floating on the screen also carries brand ads. pausing the episode will automatically shrink the window and fill the entire screen with huge ads. now there are embedded ads that have never been seen before in the plot screen. some member users think that "the exclusive ads for distinguished members have increased again" and are dissatisfied with this. on the other hand, the implantation of this advertisement can't really be called soft implantation. "the strange stories of the tang dynasty" is set in ancient times, but the advertising slogans and advertising fonts and designs are too modern. they are particularly abrupt in the picture and interrupt the immersion of watching the drama. "it's not that you can't implant ads, but this ad is too hard." some viewers also expressed dissatisfaction with the brand's blunt advertising method. "this kind of advertisement is really disgusting and completely lowers the quality of the drama." "putting this kind of advertisement is a thunderbolt."
the audience may not be so disgusted with the product placement in the drama. the audience will pay for a good story and is willing to tolerate natural product placement. these advertising products can be integrated with the plot and even add luster to the characterization. for example, the dong'e ejiao in "the legend of zhen huan" is an advertising placement but fits the plot. the expensive mineral water that andy often drinks in "ode to joy" is also a brand placement, but it fits andy's high-end and exquisite personality and is also very natural. using technical means to insert new advertisements in masterpieces that have been completed but still have viewers watching them twice or three times is a way to obtain more advertising revenue. from a business perspective, it is understandable. however, advertising placement should not be at the expense of the audience's perception. putting stiff advertisements everywhere in the drama like dog-skin plasters is likely to cause audience rebellion, which may not be a good thing for advertisers.
yangzi evening news | ziniu news reporter shen zhao
proofread by xu heng
