truTV | First Ever Cinemagraph TV Ad | 2015
Betting Everything on Ten Seconds to Earn the Title "World's First" / truTV "First Ever Cinemagraph TV Ad"
A TV commercial that calls itself the world's first cinemagraph. Shot over one night in Times Square, it's just ten seconds long.
The problem
truTV didn't want to get in the way of people watching their shows. The thinking was that people don't hate commercials because they're boring — they hate them because they break the flow of the program.
The insight
So what if the ad finished before anyone even realized it was a commercial? The bet was that something that looked halfway between a photo and a video might catch people's eyes before they had the chance to tune it out.
The idea
A couple taking a selfie in Times Square stays frozen in place, while the city around them rushes by at high speed. The only thing moving on the man is the dollar bill fluttering in his hand. A Pizza Hut logo appears quietly on a billboard behind them. After ten seconds, it cuts seamlessly into a full Pizza Hut commercial.
What happened
It aired for four weeks starting on 12/3/2015, during the show Billy on the Street. Afterward, the cinemagraph technique itself spread to other brands as well, including HBO, Disney, and Coca-Cola.
Afterthought
Every time I hear the words "world's first," I brace myself a little. But I think these ten seconds were made by someone who truly understood how much people want to avoid commercials.
