Sprite Takes its TV Spots to TiVo
Spite is taking its DVR-ready TV spots for its new SubLYMONal campaign to a new venue, the TiVo Showcase, where viewers will have access to the interactive ad.
The two-week flight began Monday, Sprite’s first interactive ad run on TiVo. Interactive tags in the ads allow viewers to pause and then click-through to Sprite’s Showcase to view more Sprite content, without missing a second of the TV show they are watching. At the Showcase, viewers can see the ads and find out how to use the SubLYMONal codes. The codes will only be revealed if the ad is viewed in slow motion. The codes can be entered at SubLYMONal.com. The site features ways for visitors to interact with the ads and to create their own SubLYMONal experiences. The Web site was developed by AKQA, San Francisco.
“Our new SubLYMONal campaign overtly parodies the concept of subliminal advertising and acknowledges up front that the commercials contain embedded content, so highlighting it for TiVo’s 4.4 million subscribers makes perfect sense,” said Don King, group director, Sprits, Coca-Cola North America, in a statement. “Sprint drinkers are interacting with this advertising in unprecedented numbers and through our partnership with TiVo, even more people will enjoy the SubLYMONal ads.”
The TiVo spots will air on Soul Train Weekly, G4 and MTV.
Sprite relaunched the brand in May with a host of promotions and ads focusing on its “lymon” taste and a fresh new look (PROMO Xtra, May 24, 2006).
The relaunch centered on the new “SubLYMONal” ad campaign; TV spots that are the opposite of subliminal. The ads let viewers know the spots are “DVR ready” so they can replay the ads to find embedded content. The lymon component of the campaign plays on the beverages lemon-lime flavor. Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami, created the spots.
The SubLYMONal campaign continues the message of Sprite’s ongoing “Obey Your Thirst” campaign. The new TV spots close with the words “SubLYMONal Message Complete” and the tagline “Obey.”
Other brands that have participated in interactive advertising with TiVo include, Warner Bros., GE, Sony Pictures, BMW, General Motors and Degree Antiperspirant.
