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Advert for a new god
Must be prepared to change humanity
Photo by Davide Cantelli on Unsplash.
I recently got a note out of nowhere to catch-up with a research scientist, professor and friend, who I fondly call Doctor Duane. I hadn’t seen him for at least 5 years, probably longer. He’s an American who lives in Perth, Australia, when he’s not travelling. He was coming to London, and hoping to meet.
Our paths first crossed when I worked in advertising. We were part of a small group trying to get the audacious idea of interactive TV advertising off the ground. The industry already knew how powerful TV was. The question we posed, was how much more effective might it be, if viewers interacted with adverts using their remote control? All that forward thinking included boarding a plane one Friday night from Heathrow, to be deposited early Sunday morning in Sydney, wondering where Saturday had gone courtesy of Doctor Duane, who’d organised one of the first Australian events?
Early results in the UK were encouraging, but it largely missed as the next best thing, and the option to watch TV (including adverts) quickly migrated online. I was always good for chasing a pipe dream.
