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05/27/2007

By Alana Semuels,
LA Times Staff Writer
May 27, 2007


With people fast-forwarding faster than ever through TV commercials at home, advertising companies have taken their campaigns out into the open.

Perhaps you've noticed: Flat-panel screens filled with spots plugging cars, orthodontists and face-lifts are everywhere these days. They greet you at the grocery store, the coffeehouse, the bank and the service station.

Most recently they've popped up in restrooms, mounted on hand dryers.

And no, you can't change the channel.

"Consumers want control," said Eli Portnoy, founder of the Portnoy Group, a brand strategy consultancy. So naturally, "marketers are trying to wrestle control away."

It's another round in the cat-and-mouse game between Americans with disposable income and the advertisers more desperate than ever to reach them, now that the digital video recorder has become so popular. Estimates are that about 20% of U.S. households have DVRs, which allow program-watching at the expense of ads, because ads can be zipped through with the simple pressure of a finger on a button.

"Everybody's flipping the channel," said Kristine Hernandez, a director of ImpressionAire Media, which made the hand dryers with built-in digital screens that were installed in Huntington Beach and Newport Beach restaurants, where they promote rental cars and drink specials. "You have to capture their attention."

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