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Why are certain commercials being shown TWICE during the same ad breaks?

K

kramie13

Banned
Yesterday, while watching local news on WCVB, during a commercial break, I noticed an ad for Wegmans. A few other ads then played, then I saw the SAME Wegmans ad, AGAIN, during the SAME commercial break!

Later in the evening, while watching Jeopardy on WBZ, I noticed the same Wegmans ad. This was followed by a Toyota ad, then the SAME Wegmans ad AGAIN! Come on, you just showed that ad 30 seconds ago! Don't they have other ads they can show?

Here is a video clip of what I'm describing:

I've also noticed this odd behavior with Frugal Fannies and Dunkin' ads. There will be a commercial for one of these advertisers at the start of a commercial break, then that ad will air again during the same break, typically right at the end of the break. Why is this? Is there a financial or marketing gain for the station and/or advertiser by showing the same ad twice in the same break?
 
I would have to assume that those advertisers are paying for it. I doubt they're getting two commercials for the price of one.
 
The double plays in a break are just that. The thinking is making two impressions in a very short time span drives home the message better than one. The variation introduced back in the 1990s I used to see was a headache remedy. The first spot was of a person talking about having a headache and grabbing the product. Toward the end of the commercial break was the same person saying their headache was gone, showing the brand of pain reliever. Very effective. And, might I add, you noticed, as would I.
 
kramie13 said:
Yesterday, while watching local news on WCVB, during a commercial break, I noticed an ad for Wegmans. A few other ads then played, then I saw the SAME Wegmans ad, AGAIN, during the SAME commercial break!

Later in the evening, while watching Jeopardy on WBZ, I noticed the same Wegmans ad. This was followed by a Toyota ad, then the SAME Wegmans ad AGAIN! Come on, you just showed that ad 30 seconds ago! Don't they have other ads they can show?

Here is a video clip of what I'm describing:

I've also noticed this odd behavior with Frugal Fannies and Dunkin' ads. There will be a commercial for one of these advertisers at the start of a commercial break, then that ad will air again during the same break, typically right at the end of the break. Why is this? Is there a financial or marketing gain for the station and/or advertiser by showing the same ad twice in the same break?
Click to expand...
I hear you, my local station is bad about running the same ad twice in a row, and then Hulu does it even further. I notice some advertisers get away with doing two distinct ads but running them together as one ad. This is undefensable to me, but I think some will say that it's hard to attract ad revenue this year, hence the repeat ads. Hopefully, we'll return to normal in the next few years, economy and ad wise.
b-turner said:
The double plays in a break are just that. The thinking is making two impressions in a very short time span drives home the message better than one. The variation introduced back in the 1990s I used to see was a headache remedy. The first spot was of a person talking about having a headache and grabbing the product. Toward the end of the commercial break was the same person saying their headache was gone, showing the brand of pain reliever. Very effective. And, might I add, you noticed, as would I.
Click to expand...
Yep, I think that could be a strategy.
 
RadioPatrol said:

Wegmans is using the double strategy McDonald's used to do in the 1990's in their ads.

Note that McDonald's commercial was big when NBA games were on.
Click to expand...
On a related note, when McDonald's brought back the McRib, I did a McDouble-Take. :p
 
I posted a similar question on Reddit. Apparently it's called a "bookend" ad. Typically the front ad is at the very start of an ad break, and the back at is at the very end of the break. Both ads are adjacent to non-commercial content.

But in the video clip I shared, it's a VERY quick turnaround between the "front" and "back" commercial, and it's not at the very beginning and end of the ad breaks. I initially thought my DVR recording was broken.
 
It happened AGAIN tonight, also on WBZ just before Final Jeopardy! A Wegmans commercial was followed by a Ford commercial, then another Wegmans commercial!

It's giving me a headache! Are the local TV stations running out of advertisers?
 
Funny you say headache because that was my first memory of the double plays: first commercial is person with headache grabbing a bottle of advertised pain reliever and then a couple of spots later, the sane person says their headache is gone as camera pans to pain reliever.

It is a great advertising strategy of making dual impressions in a very short time. More impressions means better recall and more business.
 
kramie13 said:
Are the local TV stations running out of advertisers?
Click to expand...

No. It's pretty common. You'll see it with car commercials during the end of the year sales. Advertisers believe in repetition. They may even request this kind of scheduling. They might have shorter :15 ads that get repeated during a break.

If they don't want their spots close together, that's also something the advertisers can request. I see very clear instructions on client orders that say things like "Do not air back to back" or "Allow 20 minutes between client spots." So no, what you're seeing is intentional.
 
kramie13 said:
It happened AGAIN tonight, also on WBZ just before Final Jeopardy! A Wegmans commercial was followed by a Ford commercial, then another Wegmans commercial!

It's giving me a headache! Are the local TV stations running out of advertisers?
Click to expand...
No Local TV stations are not losing advertisers though. However the same thing has happened on YouTube though whenever I am watching a show there Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu promos going back to back on the YouTube video I am seeing as a way to hype up the Disney Bundle.

Or NBC owned stations like KNTV San Jose they will do ads for Comcast Xfinity and Peacock app back to back as part of a cross promotion.
 
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