A VC - Latest Comments in Diplomacy By Humor

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

clint — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:49:20 -0000

Funny clip. Nice to see SNL creating some good stuff again.

Also, funny how most comments bash Hulu while ignoring the video. Personally, I don't mind seeing a short pre-roll ad if the video is filtered by someone with good taste. A small price to pay for a great three minute clip.

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

NICCAI — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:18:03 -0000

Agreed. The US is quickly becoming a walled garden for digital media services. Hulu, unBox, Kindle, iPhone, yadda yadda. It is amazing to me to see such progress - yes, that's sarcasm. And (admittedly slightly off track), I'm dumfounded by the media's suprise regarding the number of unlocked iPhones. The world is a big place.

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

Steve Kane — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:57:34 -0000

Great funny brave piece. Bravo SNL!

Btw, in Iran, under the law, homosexuality is punishable by DEATH.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

nickdavis — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:53:04 -0000

The flaw in your argument is assuming the the quality of a video is known
before it's viewed. How do I determine whether I'm willing to wait 22
seconds (Hulu Pre-Roll + Ad Pre-Roll + Delay Time).

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

Antonio — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:58:54 -0000

Straming not visible outside the us...

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

fredwilson — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:35:02 -0000

The answer is overlays as google adsense for video and youtube have chosen them. The market will follow google eventually

Fred

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

Thom Kozik — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:40:03 -0000

Nick, it's far from "mandatory" on the web... specialized sites like
gaming sites (one of the most popular vertical categories for video)
have done pre-roll ads for years. Year-after-year the stats for
consumption of that content goes *up*.

You seem to be missing my point, and YouTube isn't a valid
comparison. It's a trade-off with respect to *quality*

Like you, I wouldn't sit through pre-roll for piano-playing cats on
YouTube either. Nor for stupid skateboarding accidents. Not even
for LonelyGirl15. Yet I have NO problem (and apparently neither do
millions of other people) sitting through a brief pre-roll for an
episode of 30 Rock, delivered via Hulu, direct to my machine on demand.

Your 22 second result is far, far, far beyond anything I've ever
experienced. I'm on the world's lousiest cable modem service in
Topanga Canyon, California, and I've never had to wait more than 5
seconds, *if at all*. Then again, maybe you were picking an
extraordinarily popular piece of content or something, who knows.

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

nickdavis — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:24:22 -0000

Just because there is proof that post-roll commercials don't work doesn't mean that pre-roll commercials do. Someday they will figure it out, and I'd be willing to wager that the answer won't be pre-roll. I don't know how many times I've sat through pre-roll commercials on the network streaming sites only to have the show itself not work. Then I try to reload or open it in Internet Explorer, and am forced to watch again. It's a tedious process and a huge turn-off.

YouTube was successful because you could click the button and the video just started. Immediately. No pre-roll. No "buffering....". It's now mandatory for video on the web. I timed the clip above and it was 22 seconds before I got to the content.

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

nickdavis — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 17:39:01 -0000

Its not "too much". Its just not worth it.

How well would tv have taken off if they forced you to watch a
commercial every time you changed the channel?

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

Greg — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 15:33:32 -0000

Nice to see so many West Village scenes in there. How wild would it have been to pass by that shoot?

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

agawley — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 15:26:46 -0000

Hulu = FAIL

Only video you posted today I can't see from over here in the UK. Given that this thing is actually _run_ by the major studios, how come they can't sort out the international rights? Great example of internal company politics coming before users...

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

Philippe Bradley — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 15:21:53 -0000

Just highlights how contrary to the Information Age it is that national legislative heterogeneity interferes with online communication and business; we rarely see digital national boundaries, but when we do, it's usually a surprising and awkward event, painful for all involved. The sooner the offline world adapts to online (global) realities, the better.

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

fredwilson — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 15:10:02 -0000

I had no idea when I posted the video. Sorry

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

Thom Kozik — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 13:25:00 -0000

@nickdavis...

It's not SNL's model, but Hulu's. And to be fair, Hulu generally seems to "get it". The pre-roll spots are very short to minimize offensiveness to the majority of the audience, but more important to their model - they are wrapping *quality* content that there is audience demand for. While I appreciate your perspective, there's ample proof (and dead/dying companies to validate) that Post-roll commercials don't work.

To Fred...

While I laughed my ass off when this short first aired, and have passed it around the web a number of times, I don't know if I'd ever classify it as diplomacy. I can't imagine that those images of Ahmadinejad played too well in Tehran or elsewhere in Iran, let alone helped advance a diplomatic message. Might rank right up there in terms of offensiveness to them, below Dutch cartoons of Mohammed of course. While I think I get your point (joke?), and pieces like this are analogous to Chaplin's The Great Dictator, aren't they just preaching to the choir.. those of us (US. UK, et al) on the outside who stand opposed to asshats like Ahmadinejad?

I'm sure there's genuine examples of diplomacy by humor that have been effective at change, I just can't think of one at this second...

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

Philippe Bradley — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 13:21:02 -0000

I sure as hell wouldn't - i click off boring videos or articles, let alone spurious ads i have no interest in.

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

Philippe Bradley — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 13:20:22 -0000

good thing you only serve your US readership with this video!

gotta feel sorry for Hulu - as the child of the major studios it's tied by outdated, nation-based copyright systems where few other video sharing sites are.

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

BN1019 — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 13:19:15 -0000

You are telling me that it is too much to sit through a 14 second commercial? And no I don't believe you would not sit through a commercial AFTER the content. Give me a break.

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

Daniel Haran — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 12:08:09 -0000

Wow, Hulu is lame: "We're sorry, currently our video library can only be streamed within the United States."

Re: Diplomacy By Humor

nickdavis — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 11:54:41 -0000

Someday they will learn. I might sit through a commercial AFTER I watch the content, but there's no way I sit through one BEFORE I see anything. Shouldn't SNL be more concerned with building an audience and not squeezing every penny out of every interaction?

As usual Chartreuse knows best.