Super Bowl viewers who prepped their parties not only with beer and chips, but the 3-D glasses needed to view both the 90-second trailer for DreamWorks' Monsters vs. Aliens and SoBe Lifewater's 60-second spot, "Lizard Lake" -- the first 3-D commercials ever to be broadcast -- were treated to some eye-popping graphics.

(The latter included a performance of Swan Lake featuring NFL players, SoBe lizards and characters from the soon-to-be-released film.) While at press time it was unclear how many of the estimated 97 million viewers would pick up the free Intel-sponsored glasses Pepsi distributed through stores, much less put them on, the multi-branded affair gave all involved plenty of pre-game buzz.

"Stereo 3-D is infusing a lot of energy into the movie industry and it's exciting to see that cross over into advertising," says Digital Domain's Ed Ulbrich, president of the company's commercials division and executive vp of production. Digital Domain worked on the spot with the Arnell Group in New York and DreamWorks Animation.

"This is big," says Peter Arnell, co-founder and CEO of Arnell. "It's much bigger than anyone realizes. It's an early adaptation of a new technology. To have a 3-D experience in the home ... to be able to dimensionalize a flat screen and give a sense of space is crazy. ... I think people are going to want more."

While the idea of 3-D advertising is exciting to creatives like Arnell, who also directed the 60-second commercial, many industry experts say it'll be quite some time before the technology becomes an advertising staple. A major hurdle: The experience requires consumers to seek out additional tools for viewing.

"Maybe we're seeing the future, but I don't know," says Bob Scarpelli, chairman and CCO of DDB Worldwide, an agency that has perennially topped day-after polls with its Super Bowl work for Anheuser-Busch. "It depends on how many people [got] the glasses."

The technology's commercial adaptation, in general, has hit some snags. For instance, while the Hollywood film community is greatly supportive of 3-D -- directors like Steven Spielberg and James Cameron now shoot all their work in 3-D, and a slew of 3-D releases are in development -- only an estimated 1,000 theaters are capable of showing 3-D films, according to Nielsen EDI.

But Arnell, not surprisingly, is bullish on 3-D advertising's chances of success-and the technology's ability to bleed into all media. (He notes that those without the free, multi-branded glasses were able to see the commercial without the 3-D effects.) "I think people will start seeing a proliferation of pocket technologies-like people carrying 3-D glasses in their pockets or at least in their homes," he says.



Online 3-D ads that don't require glasses to see the technology may help its chances of succeeding as a marketing tool. As part of its Super Bowl effort, GE became what's believed to be the first brand to utilize 3-D technology for online creative work. Part of its new "Now" campaign -- launched during the game with a Wizard of Oz-inspired TV spot featuring a dancing scarecrow -- the online component consists of a microsite with a digital 3-D hologram. The goal: to entice consumers to learn about energy-efficient strategies. "We're always looking for ways to push the boundaries in terms of technology," says Jen Walsh, global director, digital media at GE. "We're giving consumers the ability to experience the brand in action and put it at their fingertips."

The digital campaign, created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, uses Web videos plus print and banner ads to drive people to the site. There, they can experiment with two different holograms, created with augmented-reality technology. One hologram showcases solar technology and allows users to manipulate the movement of an onscreen sun and GE's solar panels; the other features wind turbines that users can propel by blowing into the computer's microphone. The scarecrow from the TV spot, produced by BBDO New York, makes an appearance in both holograms.

The key to the effort, says Christian Haas, group cd at Goodby, was making it as easy as possible for users to access the technology: All that's needed to see the 3-D image is a Webcam and printer to print out the marker for the camera (also available on print ads).

As the first brands to bring 3-D imagery to their TV and online communications, SoBe and GE both expect added value. "Hopefully GE will be remembered as the company that first brought this to people," says Haas.

Matt Miller, president and CEO of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers, says despite the fanfare around the first 3-D advertising, he predicts there will be few followers in the immediate future. "I don't see advertisers running to shoot their commercials in 3-D," he says, "but [the TV spot] was a smart use of money to market both the technology and the [DreamWorks] film."

The technology "is more an oddity right now," agrees Scarpelli. "But I give them credit in terms of drawing more attention to their message."

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