by Joshua Cohen on September 5th, 2011
Hulu knows a thing or one billion about online video advertising. The on demand premium streaming video destination for major motion pictures and television programs delivers roughly 1,000,000,000 online video ads every month to 24 million or so individuals in the United States at a rate of about one ad per every four-and-a-half to five-and-a-half minutes of programming.
The vast majority of those video ads appear on viewers’ computer screens by way of Hulu’s Ad Selector. The Ad Selector (ASq) is an advertising format most easily described as “pre-roll with benefits.” It gives viewers the ability to control their entire ad experience during Hulu’s video playback by giving viewers a choice in the ads they’re forced to consume.
The Ad Selector displays two or three advertising options (which are comprised of different brands, brand categories, or commercial length) before the selected content begins. Viewers then choose their preferred advertising option and sit back to watch both their chosen content and commercials.
by Marc Hustvedt on September 5th, 2011
It’s the first Monday of September, and that means it’s Labor Day for us Statesiders, and just another Monday for practically everyone else. There are no holidays on the internet, and thus another Monday means another weekly video blog from Tubefilter of online video news worth knowing.
This week we’ve got more on the Hulu Japan launch and what is missing, big news from our favorite DIY fashionistas Threadbanger, a brief history of Labor Day and the man that made it happen, the latest from Sniper Twins, plus a crazy new Man vs. Food inspired web show from a Chicago-area BBQ joint, Uncle Bub’s.
Here is is, please watch, like, comment, share, enjoy:
by Drew Baldwin on September 4th, 2011
Comedian Jamie Kennedy is launching a hidden camera show HAHA,JK!, a short-form online series in the vein of hit comedy The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.
The new series, starring Kennedy, is featured on his new humor site HAHAJK.com.
In the series first episode, “The Assistant,” comedian Dave Sheridan interviews an unsuspecting job applicant for a personal assistant position to an eccentric millionaire. Expected hijinks ensue, including a bit featuring Jessica Sutta of the Pussycat Dolls.
Each seven minute episode is preceded by one of three special thirty second commercial spots starring Kennedy for the series brand sponsor, Ask.com. The Kennedy Ask.com spots—which play like short skits—run across the engage:BDR display network of 1500 comScore beaconed premium websites, just like what Google did with Seth McFarlane’s Calvalcade of Cartoon Comedy for Burger King on its AdSense Network.
engage:BDR strategically places in-banner video ads to secure substantial audience impressions so they don’t need to rely on viral distribution. The spots, which feature the catchphrase “Don’t Ask Jaime,” include
by Joshua Cohen on September 2nd, 2011
Governors are sometimes the worst! Amiright?!? From eliminating collective bargaining rights for public employees to enacting gun bills that may or may not be less stringent than the ones enforced upon Doc Holiday, the elected leaders of the states of our union can be responsible for some pretty terrible things.
But which elected leader of which state in our union is more terribler than the other? Unfortunately, there are a lot of really good/horrible candidates. But that’s why Al Gore invented the internet before he invented global warming, so we can answer such questions by way of tragically comic awards.
The Transport Workers Union of America created the Worst Governor Ever Award in conjunction with the Workers’ Rights are Human Rights campaign to expose the “extreme agenda of reactionary governors and let Americans send a message to the governor of their choosing that he or she is the worst governor ever.”
It’s not really but kinda sorta like Stephen Colbert’s Making a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow Super PAC or Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity. The TWU created an entity that focuses on bringing serious but often overlooked and underoutraged political issues and morally suspect individuals to the forefront of political conversations by way of putting those political conversations in a new and engaging context. A lot of individuals watch C-SPAN as an alternative to Ambien and not everyone reads Paul Krugman. An award like this and online videos like these make for far more effective ways to engage those individuals in political discourse and educated those individuals about political issues.
by Logan Rapp on September 2nd, 2011
Kumail Nanjiani has a wonderful comedy bit about the Call of Duty series, where he talks about being from Pakistan and how a video game has turned his hometown of Karachi into a war zone that you can play. Gabe from Penny Arcade has a long and thoughtful blog post regarding his grandfather’s hesitance to embrace [...]
by Julie Wolfson on September 2nd, 2011
Whitney Adams of Brunellos Have More Fun and Claire Thomas of The Kitchy Kitchen have turned the task of creating a short video into an artful fun romp. We dare you to watch an episode of their series Take Out and not have a smile on your face. In each video sommelier Whitney Adams chooses a wine to drink with a dish of take-out food. Thomas then shoots video of Adams exploring the pairing by drinking the wine with the dish and exploring the combination. For anyone wondering if Ricky’s Fish Tacos goes well with a 2009 Von Buhl Armand Kabinett reisling, the answer is yes.
Shot in the style of a music video with superimposed text and cut away images of the tasting notes and flavors Adams finds in the wine. In the videos she may also be petting a cute dog or sharing a pizza with friends ensuring that all who watch would be happy to live in her delicious world.
by Chris Landa on September 1st, 2011
The Monogamy Experiment stars actress/director Amy Rider (The Secret Life of the American Teenager) and is a unique mockumentary/documentary hybrid that intertwines a scripted comedy with real interviews.
The scripted action begins when Rider’s character and that character’s boyfriend Nigel (Brayden Pierce) visit a relationship counselor and – yadda yadda yadda – the couple then begins a 30-day open relationship (which, these days, is all the rage).
“I thought it’d be interesting (and funny) to make a mockumentary where you take a committed monogamous couple and throw them in a situation where they have to test out 30 days of an open relationship,” Rider said over e-mail. “But while I wanted to do a mockumentary, I felt like there’s a big social relevancy in the subject matter that I didn’t want to get lost in the whole comedy and mockumentary aspect.”
And in order to not get lost in the whole comedy and mockumentary aspect, Rider points the camera towards an impressive list of television actors, who sit down for one-on-one interviews to discuss their vantage points on intimacy and relationships. Those television actors include Brian Krause (Charmed), James Kyson-Lee (Heroes) and Amy’s The Secret Life of the American Teenager co-stars Camille Winbush and Renee Olstead.
by Marc Hustvedt on September 1st, 2011
There really is no better embodiment of dysfunctional bliss than the couple that is Prank vs. Prank. Jesse Wellens and his longtime girlfriend Gina are in an all out war of escalating proportions that has had them back and forth assaulting each other with everything from a fake pregnancy scare, duct taping to the bed, shaving cream ambushes, and even a paintball gun attack in the shower.
They describe their show as The Jersey Shore meets Jackass, which seems quite fitting for this New Jersey-based couple. Though I might throw in my favorite part of MAD magazine—Spy vs. Spy—to characterize the artful narrative that’s taking place here. What began as some idle time-passing fun with a video camera getting his girlfriend to attempt some less than flattering challenges, ended up spreading wide amongst the male-heavy Break.com audience.
Since make the shift over to YouTube in November 2009, the couple has broken through the 500,000 subscriber mark and netted over 81 million total views. Jesse and Gina sat down with us for our Tubefilter Interviews series with top video creators. Check out the interview below, though we are still wondering, as their fans are, just when—or maybe if—these two will end up tying the knot. (It’s their number one most asked question in their comments.)
