an interesting experiment in creating captivating advertisements that engage customers beyond passive visuals.

[thanks, adpunch]

check out this display with moving parts. [hyposurface]

Alexander Graham Bell makes a “special-guest” appearance pointing out the fact that his 100 years old Telephone line invention wasn’t designed for today’s Broadband connections. This is set in a traditional Chinese Hell like environment to imply the hellish experience of surfing the internet with a slow connection.

Check out this CNBC segment featuring Lego’s innovation efforts. The Company actively solicits ideas from its customers, and customers even vote on the products they would buy, to assist Lego with product development priorities.

You can imagine the advertising possibilities with this 3M display technology…

A Discovery Channel feature on the possibility of developing a time machine.

Finally, a 1939 video for the World’s Fair, which presents a vision of the futuristic world of 1960!

Check out this video of Magic Display advertising technology that switches from an advertising display to a functional mirror.

Designer Tom Shannon has received a patent on a new type of blimp with 61.5 million LED’s, so the entire surface can be used for video advertising. Tom is trying to raise funding to build and operate the blimps. [via wired]

Check out this video of a Nike Pro advertisement, a custom box with a Nike Pro t-shirt inside that fills with smoke, clears, and then fills with smoke again, which represents the the key benefit of Nike Pro apparel: that it whisks aways sweat. Cool!

Five San Francisco bus stops have been equipped with “Got Milk?” advertisements that utilize a scent of chocolate chip cookies to trigger an emotional response to the ads.  Scents have been used in magazine ads for perfume and cologne, for many years, but this is apparently the first application of scent for outdoor advertising.  [via Strange New Products and Neatorama]

Related scent technology previously reported on SHARKRIDE! here. 

There’s a must-read article on Campfire Media, the innovative advertising shop that is pioneering branded entertainment for viral marketing campaigns, in this month’s Fast Company. Movies and television shows already offer product placement opportunities for brands (a la Ford in Casino Royale), so why not create (as Campfire is doing) more compelling and immersive (and effective) entertainment experiences that are sponsored by brands?

The experiences Campfire create could be even richer and more dynamic. Imagine participating in a game where you actually have to participate in a heist, and then evade law enforcement in an Aston Martin in a simulated car chase, for example (a video game on steroids). Simply passively watching such things happen in a movie, if such an active and real entertainment opportunity existed, would be merely an artsy experience like watching plays. For more color on this, and to read my developing vision for next-generation entertainment, click here.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!