NY Times

December 21, 2006

SPORTS commentators will not be the only ones remarking on Sunday’s National Football League games. Animated raccoons will also give instant feedback in advertisements for Wendy’s International that will be shown at the start of commercial breaks.

If the score is 0-0, an ad might start with a Wendy’s raccoon standing in front of an overturned trash can, saying, “I may be nocturnal, but this game is putting me to sleep.”

If there is a touchdown just before a commercial break, another raccoon might say: “Touchdown. These fans are as rabid as we are.”

With three sections of the commercial inserted on the fly, viewers could see up to 11 versions of the ad. All will include a voice-over saying, “Why eat junk at night when you can go to Wendy’s?”

The Wendy’s commercials, to be broadcast nationally on Fox Sports this weekend, are one of the earliest national examples of an emerging TV technology that allows advertisers to vary their message at the last minute. The Wendy’s ads will reflect events in the football games, creating what ad executives call a reverse product placement of sorts. Instead of putting Frostys or Wendy’s fries into a TV program, the company will incorporate a show’s content in its commercials.

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