Advertising and White Rappers

If you don't know about "The White Rapper Show" by now, then you betta axe somebody. VH1 dipped back into the same well that brought us intellectual classics like "Flavor of Love," and decided to bring in a whole bunch of wannbe rappers into a contest for $100,000. Just for a little taste: A little white guy with a camo bandana raps about Humpty Dumpty getting murdered ("I told you Humpty, this wasn't a game!"). Get your fix of hip hop hilariousness here: http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/white_rapper/series.jhtml

Anyway, during the commercial break, I noticed something I had not seen before. I don't watch a lot of VH1, so this might not be new, but it was new to me. When it went to commercial, the screen got smaller, and two colorful bars inched in on the top and left sides of the screen. Also, the first commercial was not a commercial. It was extra footage and information about some of the white rappers. On the left bar, an ordinary product name was listed, like "Next: Chevy." On top, it read, "Now: Behind the Music." After about a minute spot, it played a Chevy ad. During the entire commercial break though, they alternated commercials with continuations from the same "Behind the Music" spot.

I thought this was an interesting way to keep white rap enthusiasts glued to the screen and willing to sit through the commercials. It worked on me. Frankly, I'm surprised I haven't seen it anywhere else. Of course, throwing in something like that might affect ad rates, and some companies might not want to be stuck between VH1's own segmens. However, it was an interesting way for VH1 to keep viewers watching. Perhaps segments like this will change the way networks air commercials.