I want my...ads?

As reported in MediaWeek last week, "Comcast has hired TV research firm Frank Magid & Associates to oversee a major new study of the effectiveness of on-demand advertising, that will be based on a survey of 4,000 Comcast digital TV subscribers." Since I pay for the on-demand movies I watch...would I be required to pay for the on-demand ads, too? Or would they lower my monthly cable bill for sitting through commercials on feminine products and burger joints?

Now I do download movie trailers, which indeed are ads. And I might download some advertiser-generated short films (e.g. BMW's films) but it would need to be a mighty compelling ad or have a mighty compelling value prop (e.g. free cable).

Maybe I'm missing something and along with marketers switching from top-down marketing to bottom-up some have also been dropped on their heads--folks, haven't consumers proven, time and again, that they'll do anything to avoid ads? This weekend I was told "marketers are evil" and instead of defending my clan, I decided to follow my own advice and listen. After reading this article, I would tell the person he forgot to add 'mindless' to his list of adjectives.

Shout out: Thanks to Shelly Palmer's newsletter for notifying me of this.