If you think someone has broken into your house, the first reaction is usually to call the police. But that’s not whatDavid Prager decided to do. Instead, David decided to use Twitter while his intruder was making himself comfortable in his bathroom, and even set up a live video feed of the events occurring in his house.
It’s interesting to see how much Twitter and other social networks have entered the realm of thought, taking precedent over our traditional reactions to a situation.
One great (and fictional) example of this is the Big Bang Theory. In this week’s episode, one of the main characters is riding on a train and sees Summer Glau sitting a few seats way. He approaches her and tries strike up a conversation but is ultimately turned down. However, before going back to his seat he asks Summer if he can take a picture with her to post on his Facebook page.
While the show is silly, the characters often refer to using Facebook, Twitter and even MySpace – showing how these social networks have clearly become mainstream, and more importantly, are influencing our everyday decisions.
Companies and businesses looking to tap into that mainstream audience: take note.
Since so many commercials aren’t watched anymore thanks to TiVo, DVR and Hulu, is it possible that companies trying to make their commercials so annoying that they stick in your head? After watching the new McDonald’s talking fish commercial, I’m left wondering is advertisers aren’t aiming to impress us, but just stay in our head long enough to convince us to purchase their product.
It’s amazing to look at how much advertising has changed. Not so long ago companies strove to have the best ads, as they were seen by millions of people and had strong impacts. Today, the Superbowl still has the anticipation for the advertisements, but viewers can see most of them online before the game, and almost all of them have an online push anyway.
This brings me to product placement, a new avenue of product pushing. Using the same company (McDonald’s) as an example, look at what was accomplished in 30 Rock’s Valentines Day episode (ironically, this wasn’t product placement, it was pure comedy and love). The McFlurry was the star of the show, as Alec Baldwin and Salma Hayek continuously discussed how it was the best dessert. Two days later I was in the car with my brother when we passed a McDonald’s and he mentioned how he was really in the mood for a McFlurry.
It’s amazing how this commercial (in my opinion) is a complete flop while the unintentional product placement had a complete opposite affect, because after watching the 30 Rock cast drool all over the McFlurry, it did sound awfully good. However, that fish commercial makes me want to never see those golden arches again.
Maybe the annoying repetitive song isn’t always the best answer…
