Video ads – in print pubs

Magazines aren’t typically where you expect to find video ads, but CBS has found a way to make it happen.

The network will embed a video chip into the pages of Entertainment Weekly’s Sept. 18 edition (well, for subscribers in NY and LA – the rest of the country and newsstand buyers will get a version without the chip). CBS is teaming with Pepsi to co-promote the network’s Monday night lineup and Pepsi Max.

LA-based Americhip is the company behind the chip. The battery fueling each one, it claims, can run about 40 minutes of video.

It’s a fascinating step forward in advertising, though I’m curious how much it’s costing the two companies. (Are ad-supported ads really the next step in the advertising world? Shudder.) Given the limited distribution, it has to be significant.

Running the ad in the nation’s top two markets will certainly help, but as my colleague Brian Lowry noted in his blog BLTv, CBS is already seeing a surge in viewership for “The Big Bang Theory”. If Monday’s see a ratings bump at CBS, will it be due to the innovative print ads or viewer excitement built up by on-air spots this summer?