Tuned In

What Will You Put on Your Face for TV's Sake?

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I’m preparing for my annual Super Bowl Ad review extravaganza this Sunday night (in which I TiVo the game, watch and review every ad on the spot, and fast-forward through the entire game itself; the reviews usually post, with video, early Monday morning). As part of that, the good folks at DreamWorks and Pepsi sent me 3-D glasses to use in watching the game’s (I’m told) first-ever 3-D ad break, which will include a trailer for animated flick Monsters vs. Aliens and a 3-D spot for SoBe Lifewater. The specs will also come in handy for a 3-D episode of Chuck NBC is airing Monday. 

Now, I haven’t watched the screener of Chuck yet. And I don’t want to pre-judge the Super Sunday ads. But as an entertainment writer, I have lived through several waves of “3-D is really going to break through this time, no seriously it’s different now we mean it.” And I continue to have the same, perhaps ignorant, reaction: no, it is not. For the simple reason: You have to put things on your face. 

I may be the wrong person to judge. As you can see at right, I wear glasses, so 3-D is not the friendliest technology to me. Balancing the paper spectacles over my real ones (I hate contacts and am blind without them) is a fun lark, but it gets annoying enough sitting through a couple minutes of advertising. I’m kind of dreading keeping them pinned on while watching a full episode of Chuck. (Let alone while taking notes.) 

Of course, most Americans are not four-eyes like me. I understand the marketers and NBC have made a real push to get the specs on America’s face come Super Sunday and I’m sure it’ll be a good enough time. But I’m as skeptical there’s a bigger future for 3-D as I have every other time I’ve heard entertainment execs pitching it. 

Maybe I’m wrong this time. Will you be wearing the glasses Sunday night (or for Chuck)? And who would you bet money on: the monsters or the aliens?