Business 2.0

Downloading the Future of TV Advertising


With a plink and a plunk and 86 moving parts, Honda reminds the ad world of the value of great content -- and teaches it something about the power of interactivity. Through the simple act of releasing a remarkable television commercial onto the Web, the U.K. wing of automobile giant Honda (HMC) has unleashed something of a typhoon in the advertising business. Though it has yet to fully play out, Honda's ad proves the value of content and could stand as a turning point in the history of the television spot -- proof that interactivity won't kill television advertising, as many are now predicting, but may instead be instrumental in saving it.