One minute and SEVEN seconds? Seriously?

No one asked me, but YouTube and Vimeo are teaching bad editing habits. Creators aren’t confined to 30s and 60s. They can make a commercial any length they want. :47, 1:07, 2:13, any length at all. This is not necessarily a good thing.?

A time constraint can force you to be more disciplined and make hard choices. All the time in the world lets creators keep in all the bits they shot for whatever length they wish.?

If you’re game, here are two spots that I think would be better at a different length.

Look up “Heineken The Night is Young” on YouTube. I love this idea. People over 65 got vaccinated first so they got to go back to the clubs first. This spot came out right as vaccinations were available to adults of any age. Smart. Fun. But…

I think this would be better at 30 or 40 seconds rather than just over a minute. I think the bits would play better if they were more rapid fire with shorter shots and less repeated shots.

The Pringles spot that ran on the last Super Bowl is another example. Look up “Pringles Stuck In :30.” This is the spot that ran on the game. It’s too short. They need more time for absurdity to build. But I think “Pringles Stuck In :90” goes on too long. 60 seconds might be the perfect length.?

This is going to make me sound like a Scrooge, but I think most of the holiday commercials that come from the UK are too long. I remember seeing the John Lewis “Monty the Penguin” commercial for the first time – “We get it! The kid and the penguin are pals! Now what?” I think it should have been shorter than 2 minutes.

So has TikTok made us all impatient? Or am I just jealous because I’ve had to make so many ads work in?exactly?30 then 15 then 6 seconds?

There are some commercials that I think work great and are longer. “Burberry Open Spaces” is 2:10 and Nike’s “Seen it all” 50th anniversary spot is 2:30 and I think those lengths are perfect. And even John Lewis’ “The Bear and The Hare,” one of my all-time favorite commercials, uses every second of its 2-minute length well.

My point is that YouTube and Vimeo not only allow you to make a video as long as you want, they allow you to make a commercial as?short?as it needs to be to work best. Keep trimming until it’s perfect.?

Are there ads you can think of over 90 seconds that used the time well? Are you enjoying the flexibility of making a spot that’s one minute and seven seconds?

#advertising #creativeadvertising #advertisingeducation #ads #adverts #TVcommercial