Television viewers in the UK can tonight see a live advertisement during regular programming on Channel 4:

The programmes that surround them might habitually rely on cliffhangers to maintain attention, but advert breaks are not normally known for their sense of jeopardy. That could all change tonight when Channel 4 and Honda stage the first ever live advert on British television, featuring a team of skydivers leaping out of a plane over Madrid.

During the first ad break of the reality show Come Dine With Me at 8.10pm, the 19 skydivers will have three minutes and 20 seconds to spell out the word Honda, inspired by the car manufacturer’s new advertising strapline: “Difficult is worth doing”.

I can’t say it’s enough to make me watch Come Dine With Me, but I may try to time it right to switch over…

(via the guardian)

UPDATE: Well that was pretty cool, some funny moments and overall a pretty impressive feat. Apparently it’ll be available to watch online soon at honda.co.uk but at the time of writing, it’s not up yet.

A set of adverts in Germany - ingenious!

More here

I used to love adverts when I was a kid. Apparently I could recite them back at the drop of a hat, which must have been wonderful for those around me. Lately, I’ve not felt much love for the commercial interruptions to my viewing - with the exception of the latest Vodafone advert, “Make work, work around you”. Quite apart from the concept being pretty cool, I love the song in the advert - which for anyone searching to find it, is called “The End” and is sung by Nancy Sinatra.

Take a look at the advert on YouTube.