Blink Of An Ad

Zap this! TV advertisers try the one-second sell

For many people, the sight of a TV commercial is a prompt to either bolt to the kitchen for a quick bite or hit the remote for a quick escape. But last month Master Lock, a division of Fortune Brands based in Milwaukee, Wis., likely became the first national advertiser to run a one-second ad--snack-proof and zap-proof.

The commercial--call it a blink ad, for obvious reasons--depicts the company's signature image, a bullet shredding but not opening a lock, together with the logo. The ads are part of a campaign that also uses 30-sec. spots for Master Lock padlocks.

The length of...

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