5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... OK, now you can skip that ad.
You know the drill. You open a YouTube video and hover over the bottom right-hand corner, waiting impatiently to skip to the video you really want to see: a laughing owl.
Considering that 94% of pre-roll ads are skipped once the option is available, brands are looking for new ways to make the most of the format. Burger King created pre-roll ads that showed people discussing how much they hate pre-roll ads, and NAIL Communications raised money for ASPCA by threatening viewers that they would electrocute a puppy if the person skipped the ad.
Geico is following this "we're aware this video is an interruption" approach with four new pre-roll ads. Each ad in the "Unskippable" series is 15 seconds long, and the main content of the ad over within the first six seconds.
The extended versions are shown below.
