A new form of advertising is coming your way, and you can’t block it.

Adverts. Nobody likes them and everyone avoids them. In fact, any attempt to sell is usually treated with instant distain. We’ve now become a culture of wanting something for the cheapest price possible, so when we’ve paid our fairly reasonable TV licence and our insanely expensive Sky subscription we’re usually pretty narked at having adverts thrown in our face too.

Sky TV is a strange concept when you think about it. You pay a subscription to watch adverts. However, with everyone having boxes that’ll let us skip adverts or watch shows on-demand without any commercial breaks at all, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for programme-makers to get the cash they need to make those quality shows. Add the illegal downloads into the mix and you get an even bigger problem – a world where adverts are snipped out and ignored. They suddenly become worthless. Advertisers want to pay less (because less people are watching the ads) and programme makers get less money.

The solution, or at least one of the solutions, is to do “product placement”. However, there’s usually a bit of faffing around to get this done. Spots have to be agreed, shows have to include the products in certain shots and it all has to be kept in place for the final edit.

Here’s an example of product placement in a UK soap (Coronation Street)…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVTlUzzlSfk

It’s all very cleverly orchestrated, but most viewers accept the products on show, even if it could be a bit too much having those characters mentioning the brand names. Now though, there’s another way. A company called MirriAd have perfected the art of adding products and product adverts into shows after they’ve been made. The items can be dotted around shows that are new, imported or even classic shows. It’s probably best to show the technology in action below, and it’s all very clever because, as MirriAd say themselves, “people are usually in ‘receive mode’ when watching their favourite shows” and don’t block-off those little messages that are dotted around the programme.

Remember, the ads and branded products you see in the video below were NOT there when the original footage was shot..