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Minimercials?

landtuna

landtuna

Anyone else seen these?

They are commercials in the typical infomercial format (two "panelists" sitting in chairs in a discussion type scenario) and they introduce their commercial as "being with you for the next hour". Kind of like the beg-a-thon pitch that PBS stations do. They do come on at intervals during the show (in this case a syndicated show) but do not run much more than 30-45 seconds at a time.

The one I've noticed in Phoenix currently is advertising for a trade school and usually appears in early evening.
 
I have seen mini-commercials being used in hockey broadcasts.
A very brief ten-second ad which they slide in between face-offs.
 
OHIODEAL said:
The bottom line,a minimercial is a commercial.I don't care if it's five seconds or less.It's a commercial!!!!!
Click to expand...

Sure, I understand that, as does most likely everyone else. The thing that is somewhat unusual is the implication that that one commercial is sponsoring the whole program. It isn't, of course, because there are other normal commercials.
 
FreddyE1977 said:
I have seen mini-commercials being used in hockey broadcasts.
A very brief ten-second ad which they slide in between face-offs.
Click to expand...

This is very common on "Hockey Night in Canada", where at various points during the lull in the action, a very brief commercial, often an animated ad superimposed over the spectators, is presented, before going right back to the action.

Here's an example, from the 1960s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZzzQMjenMY&list=PLEEBE8D655FF6AE6B&index=30&feature=plpp_video
 
"minimercials" sound like they'd fit in best with sports coverage. Hockey, during overtime, indeed so none of the action is ever missed.
 
Hockey and soccer seem the best fit for "minimercials" in sports, as neither sport has many natural breaks in the action.
 
I think my use of the term "minimercials" has been misinterpreted.

I used the term to mean like an infomercial (30-minute variety) but shorter. I did not mean the term to mean a very short normal commercial.
 
I'm thinking what is meant is ads with "natural conversations" where a host who clearly isn't part of the news department talks to some company representative about their product or service at length, like you see on "Daytime" or "The Morning Blend", shows like that, and makes an offer you have to take advantage of in a half-hour. Or something for one of the for-profit colleges where they think you've been amazed by the most awesome trade school ad in the history of film ("I hope you really enjoyed that very blandly acted ad you just saw and I know you have more questions...")

Yes, I've seen those, including on a local noon newscast, and they're a new level of awful.
 
mrschimpf said:
I'm thinking what is meant is ads with "natural conversations" where a host who clearly isn't part of the news department talks to some company representative about their product or service at length, like you see on "Daytime" or "The Morning Blend", shows like that, and makes an offer you have to take advantage of in a half-hour. Or something for one of the for-profit colleges where they think you've been amazed by the most awesome trade school ad in the history of film ("I hope you really enjoyed that very blandly acted ad you just saw and I know you have more questions...")

Yes, I've seen those, including on a local noon newscast, and they're a new level of awful.
Click to expand...

Exactly! Thanks for bailing me out. ;D
 
firepoint525 said:
Not sure if this qualifies as a minimercial or not, but I've seen these, with the same host here, shown in Nashville. This clip is from Orlando.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmq4rEd1Y64
Click to expand...

Very close. The differences between yours and mine are length (mine is about 1 min) and there is no warning at the beginning that it is a paid commercial on mine. It just snaps on as if it were breaking news. Mine also says "we'll be with you throughout the show" but AFAIK it is shown only one time at the beginning of the show.
 
landtuna said:
firepoint525 said:
Not sure if this qualifies as a minimercial or not, but I've seen these, with the same host here, shown in Nashville. This clip is from Orlando.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmq4rEd1Y64
Click to expand...
Very close. The differences between yours and mine are length (mine is about 1 min) and there is no warning at the beginning that it is a paid commercial on mine. It just snaps on as if it were breaking news. Mine also says "we'll be with you throughout the show" but AFAIK it is shown only one time at the beginning of the show.
Click to expand...
The ones here in Nashville (to the best of my knowledge) do not have that disclaimer at the beginning of it, although as I said, the same host, Meredith Galeano. Interesting that the Nashville setup is mirror image to this one, with Galeano sitting to the left, and the two chiropractors sitting to the right (as you look at them on the screen). Dialog is almost the same; it is as if they were scripted. They do seem very stiff and stilted. Also seen commercials here in the Nashville area with the same two (local) chiropractors, but a different host, Jennifer Vickery, who is apparently an off-and-on employee of channel 4. She seems to fill in while the others are on maternity leave, etc. No such evidence of a local connection with Meredith Galeano. Maybe that is why they used her for those spots.
 
Due to a phone call I missed the commercial today but did notice that it came on, not at the beginning of the show, but in the middle. And only one time. They continue to say that "we'll be with you throughout the show" but alas, they never are. ;D
 
dhett said:
Hockey and soccer seem the best fit for "minimercials" in sports, as neither sport has many natural breaks in the action.
Click to expand...

Soccer can basically count on NO breaks in the game unless somebody gets injured.
Television networks are pretty much forced into tactics like this when covering soccer.

The NHL does now have several planned TV time-outs per game, during which they turn a
crew loose to clean-up the ice surface a bit.
 
Prior to the mid-90s, when American networks aired soccer, they always interrupted the matches to show ads. (In the '70s, when CBS had a weekly North American Soccer League(NASL) game, there were several matches in which the referees admitted they called more fouls, and would 'stall' before allowing play to resume, so the network could fit in more ads.)
Since the 1994 World Cup, and continuing with Major League Soccer since its inception, the sponsors' logos are displayed onscreen almost continuously, and the announcers menton them by name as thanks for 'presenting this match without commercial interruption'.
 
As far as "sponsoring" a program, and then actually coming back during each station break, the one example that comes to mind is the Safe-Step Walk-In Tub Company. They occasionally "sponsor" a local newscast, and then actually come back during each station break. And each spot is (sort of) an update from the previous one. They give you a "limited" amount of time to call "during this program" (in this case, the local news), but I am sure that they wouldn't refuse your business, should you call them after the program is over. I'm guessing that each one of these ad campaigns gives a different 800 number, so that they know when and where their callers are coming from. Usually, the celebrity spokesmen for the Safe-Step tubs are either Charlie Chase (of Crook & Chase fame) or Pat Boone.

"Minimercials" might actually be a misnomer for what these are. "Mini-infomercials" works a little better for me. When I think of "minimercials," I think of those "this is your brain on drugs" PSAs from years ago. Those were really short, but got the point across very quickly.
 
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