Gender-Specific Sony Bravia Ads Target "Commercial-Skippers"

In their latest move to engage DVR-owning ad-skippers, Sony has created a new spot for the Bravia line. To hook viewers, the commercial will pause and show two buttons on the screen labeled "ending for men" and "ending for women." DVR-free households will notice a brief pause in the ad before a choice is selected automatically. Those with DVRs can make the choice themselves and may catch the one-second features and optional endings unavailable to the TiVo-challenged. Either way, the features are all available online.

So that's the rundown, but does the gender-specific messaging work? We sampled all of the spots this morning with mixed results. While Jim rolled with laughter between bouts of "that's hysterical!" cries, I was left feeling they'd missed the mark for my gender. Wait a second. He gets an appearance by Peyton Manning and leather-clad comic villans, and all I get is a sappy romance story and an nostalgic shoe musical?

Granted, I wouldn't be caught dead with a romance novel. Preferring instead to cling to my WSJ and the latest copy of Fast Company. But they still missed me with the shoe-centric featurette. This should have worked on me, but it was far too Betty Boop and not enough Manolo Blahnik. Why does this matter? Because of the two of us, I'm the one who longs for the widescreen plasmas and the latest wireless gadget designed to improve my life experience. And I'm not alone. Women make up a significant portion of the electronics consumer market.

This is the only commercial currently planned for the Bravia until the end of January. They've invested a solid $13M on the campaign, so hopefully they'll fare as well with the buying public as they did with Jim. Still need more? Check out sony.com to see all four optional endings and download extras like wallpaper.