Adlet and Blink

Sixty-second commercials? Unheard of these days. One-second TV spots are becoming commonplace.

One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand.

You can now hear radio ads that are shorter than that.

In fact, you probably already have. Clear Channel Communications, the largest radio company in America, operating some 1,100 stations, is offering time slots for commercials as short as one second. As of last report, no advertiser has bitten on a slot that miniscule yet, but they are buying the two-second and five-second slots. That is a big change, because traditionally, radio ads run for 60 seconds each.

The five-second ads are being called “adlets” and the two-second spots have been dubbed “blinks.”

But what can you possibly communicate in tiny time periods like that?

More than you think.

Here, for example, is a two-second ad you might have heard on the radio recently: “The Simpsons — ‘Doh!’ — tonight on Fox.”

And here is a five-second ad: “‘I’m hearing people’s thoughts.’ (whisper: Heroes on NBC).”

The regional president of sales for Clear Channel conceded that...