It doesn't matter if it's on TV or if it's on the Internet or if its carved into the surface of the moon…bad, boring advertising is still bad, boring advertising. If people like your idea, they will embrace it, and they will spread it around. The recent success of Saturday Night Live's short "Lazy Sunday" seems to prove this well enough. While SNL has been terrible for a few years, and most people have written it off lately, this one sketch about two guys rapping about going to see Narnia was put onto the Internet by people who liked it, and then it spread around like wildfire. I've heard from people who have access to this kind of data say that SNL's ratings have shot up astronomically because of this sketch's success online. That's a testiment to the power of today's consumer. If people like your content, they will put it where it will be seen, and it will be there legitimately, rather than forced in like a silly corporate myspace profile. I think that while the future of ads will involve creativity in placement, in the long run its going to be much more about having good ideas and interesting content, much like it's always been. The difference is going to be that consumers are going to have the power to decide if your ad lives or dies. Double true.
