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TV Networks Open Neuroscience Labs To Improve Their Shows and Ads (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader writes: NBCUniversal's recently-opened Orlando neuroscience lab is trying to develop methods of delivering advertisements related to the scene in the show preceding them, such as delivering a food advertisement directly after a scene which has been shown to make test-subjects hungry. Viacom is building a lab right now to take electroencephalagrams of viewers while they watch. "And ratings firm Nielsen Holdings, which just bought neuroscience firm Innerscope Research earlier this year, is adding facial coding and biometrics to its labs, which currently conduct eye tracking and perform EEGs." NBC doesn't trust what viewers say when asked for their opinion on shows. They want to use science to determine which scenes trigger an emotional response, whether the viewer acknowledges it or not.
telling a meaningful story with an engaging plot, complex dialogue and interesting characters? or pinching out another Avengers/Batman/Bond/Furious? studios have decided the easiest way to make money is to paint with a shotgun, so its no surprise we get cognitive neuroscience involved.
The rules are already pretty simple: keep the dialogue at the 8th grade level and the characters simple. House is a meanie bo beanie, sheldon is a goofy nerd, and the team on NCIS follows such predictability they could be used as a canary to ensure a tv stations satellites were tracking properly. Combine your average sitcom with a healthy dose of product placement and well timed advertisements between painfully obvious and intentional cliffhangers and youve got yourself a riveting cinematic blockbuster thats sure to entertain some 300 pound navel-gazing white trash single mom for at least the 30 minutes it takes to chug a soda and finish a cold pizza.
the devils in the details. You cant expect to gain 10-15% profit quarterly and assume a product anything less than C grade is going to come out of the effort. it means rehash concepts, repeat plotlines, and a whole lot of commercial time. It means squeezing out stinkers like minions and then skull-fucking parents into everything from online games to fast food and clothing tie-ins because you dont have time for ideas. Exploiting basic human urges is simply a more cost effective means to ensure people who already watch this shit, continue to watch it.
Good people go to bed earlier.
Blipverts!
There is no God, and Dirac is his prophet.
>> Why don't they just start allowing subliminal adverts in 1 or 2 frames again?
Too easy to pick out and beat on in social media in our digital age.
This doesn't bode well for future screenplays. Once they figure out what works, they'll write the scripts to sell the products. We'll be nostalgic for the days of mere product placement.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
I can't be the only one repulsed by the present day ads.
Especially during daytime - it's creeping to evenings now.
Because women are leaky things that spew matter from every orifice, men are the opposite, they have to put thingys up their weiners so they can pee. Drugs that might make you go on a killing rampage.
Vaginal mesh, mesothelioma, Call us so we can see who you can sue! Some wacky lady who is obsessed with pooping, and probiotics. J.G. Wentworth "It's my money and I need cash now!"
Dancing millenials. Did I mention dancing millenials? Do we have to have dancing millenials break into a dance because their Totino's pizza rolls came out of the microwave? Or found a piece of furniture online?
When they tortured the guy in A Clockwork Orange" they could have just used today's commercials.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Seriously, things are pretty bad when every other ad is for some obscure prescription drug. I mean really, how many people have non-24 to the point of justifying an expensive TV ad? And the ads are stupid, too. Show a bunch of people going about their daily lives set to music while the narrator spends 50 seconds telling you about all the possible side-effects. Dumb.
thats sure to entertain some 300 pound navel-gazing white trash single mom for at least the 30 minutes it takes to chug a soda and finish a cold pizza
Why would you ruin a perfectly valid critique with this kind of insulting, racist, classists nonsense?
Next time you fast forward through commercials on your DVR pay attention to what parts/logos are still visible.
Also having written analysis code for this type of thing (article) that's probably still in use, my bad ya'll. ..eat snacky smores
They need to come up with adverts that are less annoying than poking myself in the eye with a darning needle
Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.
>> NBC doesn't trust what viewers say when asked for their opinion on shows.
They shouldn't trust people's expressed opinions. How many people have you heard say naive things like "I'm not influenced by advertising" or "I do my own research"? And yet, advertising works, particularly because advertisers know where prospects go to "research" and get their pitches in there.
This article should disabuse anyone of the notion that they are not influenced by advertising. They are studying brain physiology in order to sell you stuff! They are operating on a subconscious level that many people aren't even aware exists! We have little defense if our conscious mind doesn't even enter into the equation. And if you think these techniques are just used to make you want hamburgers, think again.
Advertising and other forms of subconscious manipulation are used to sell you wars, government policies and political candidates. People think their opinions are their own, but often they have just been selected from a menu presented to them by the media.
Yeah, advertising works. Millions if not billions of dollars have been spent to understand how you think, what motivates you, and how to influence that without your knowledge. Anyone who thinks they are not affected is foolish and ignorant.
"What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
I want to think that amazon/netflix/hulu/crunchyroll actually have a much better idea of what people actually watch. As they get the stats directly. Instead of a bunch of nelson's. Why is survivor still on? Its definitely not because people want to watch it.
However there does seem to be a race to the bottom going on for tv programming If everything on is crap you just need the least crappy show to sell ads. So they don't try very hard anymore.
Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
The people annoyed by ads are subsidizing your torrent experience.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Young grasshopper, there is much I could teach you.
When effective marketing organizations lay out plans to get people to buy a product, they design around a concept called a "sales funnel" and map out the mental state of potential buyers in various states. These states include (at a high level) learning about whether or not they have a need, deciding they need a solution, deciding what solutions they are going to purchase, and deciding to pull the trigger on their preferred solution.
Marketing organizations set up interactions designed to nudge buyers down the funnel at all stages, including the stages I listed: "do I have a problem" (often helped along by planted news stories with statistics like 74% of all health care companies fell prey to whatever) and "what solutions are available for this" (often helped along by seeding if not outright buying off a "trusted" reviewer or analyst). Throw in a couple of advertisements that reinforce the exposure of this or that brand name (which is also backed up by psychology), and suddenly you're another sheep buying Oracle.
Are you keeping up now?