What if advertisements were content too?
Yah so I’m not exactly sure how this works, I thought of this question today and it’s been asked. But let’s think about it differently. Think advertorial. Advertisements are skipped because they are pop ups, they are graphics, they are flashy and they are squares pasted on the side of a web site.
Advertisers are just as stupid as journalists. The web site is not just print with a mouse. Advertisers treat it that way by repurposing print ads into banners that flash.
Big whoop, my sister can do that.
Advertisers have tried to make “games” where you kick the puppy or punch George Bush. But what the hell does that do?
Nothing.
So why can’t advertisements be content too? We already know that most people don’t care or even realize the difference between content types. Opinion, news, blogs, it’s all the same to people. No offense to readers, but sometimes they consume stuff like wood chippers.
The only people who worry about such strict diliniations of content are journalists.
“YOU CAN’T MIX THOSE! YOU CAN’T MIX ADVERTISING AND EDITORIAL, PEOPLE WILL THINK …” blah blah blah you’re wrong.
People will think whatever they want. For christsake you’ve got advertisments on the same page as editorial content in the print. Do you think those 1pt hairlines are really going to separate it? Do you think people honestly think the advertisement controlled the editorial product? They will if it’s obviously biased toward Nike because you keep dropping product hints in your story.
Let’s get freakin’ realistic. When advertisements become content just as valuable as editorial content, you can start charging people for it and being more creative with it. It’s more than clicks.
Anyway, it’s an incomplete idea and I’m not sure how to realize it, but that’s the concept anyway.