Entertainment Weekly will be the first print magazine to have video advertisements on its pages, using slim-line screens with rechargeable batteries.
The video-in-display ads will appear in select copies of the magazine's September issue. Spoiling the surprise, we already know that the ad sponsors are PepsiCo (promoting Pepsi Max soda) and CBS (promoting its primetime television line up), CNet reports.
Each TFT LCD screen, manufactured by Americhip, is roughly the size of a mobile phone display, measuring 2.7 millimeters thick, with a resolution of 320 x 240. The ads run on batteries that can be replenished by mini-USB cord, should you want to view the spectacle after the initial 65 to 70-minute charge runs out.
The product has been in development for two years. BBC points out the obvious, that the video ads will cost "much more than normal print ads."
But is it worth the extra cost? While there's no denying that the video ads will attract readers' attention, they may not do so in a positive way, especially if this technology gets more use in the future. Display ads -- a necessary evil, to be sure -- already draw the ire of readers who are trying to find editorial content as fast as possible. Though this round of ads seem to exist on their own pages, there's nothing stopping them from running closer to editorial in the future. I can only imagine how irritating a flashing screen would be when you're trying to read a print article.
Furthermore, these videos go against the trend of less expensive display ads made possible by the proliferation of online content. Advertisers are finding that they can get their message out to a lot more people online, without paying as much as they would for print. I'm not sure that even more expensive print ads would have additional reach, beyond the news stories (like this one) that cover their existence.
Still, the technology itself is promising. If the editorial departments of magazines can get their hands on this stuff as well, print magazines will suddenly become a lot cooler.
