"Enhanced" Media Consumption

First came the Super Bowl, then the Super Bowl ads, and then the hype over the Super Bowl ads that exceeded the hype over the football game. Then followed video streaming on the Internet, which inspired more replays of the ads than of the game highlights.

In the past two or three years, Americans have taken yet another step toward the transformation of the championship football game from an athletic contest into a media phenomenon. Millions of us now view Super Bowl ads that don't even run on the Super Bowl.

A case in point this year was GoDaddy.com's ad featuring Danica Patrick, the female Indy race car driver, in a spoof of a Congressional hearing into a major league "enhancement" controversy. Under questioning, a series of voluptuous young women vehemently deny being "enhanced." Then the camera shifts to the comely but -- ah, shall we say -- slender Ms. Patrick, who announces, "Yes, I've enhanced." The crowd gasps. "It's true," she continues. "I have enhanced my image with a domain and web site from GoDaddy.com." The end of the ad invites viewers to visit the GoDaddy.com web site where they can view a "hot" Internet-only version.

The hot Internet ad generated more than 1.6 million views just on the Spike TV web site. As for the GoDaddy.com web site where most viewers were directed, let's just say it's a good thing that GoDaddy.com is an Internet Service Provider or its servers might have crashed.

Boomers have a reputation as being less technologically savvy than their Millennial (Gen Y) children to whom such tasks as setting up Facebook pages, texting messages on their cell phones and Twittering are second nature. But that impression isn't entirely fair. Les us not forget, Boomers did invent the personal computer. (Anyone remember Bill Gates and Steve Jobs?) Read more.