At first glance, there's nothing remarkable about this ad. In fact, it's not good at all. From a technical standpoint, you'll notice that the character icon never moves from the center of the screen. Apparently, some study shows that your eyes automatically gravitate to the center of the screen when you hit fast forward on a DVR. So the grasshopper character will have 1-2 seconds to make an impression, because he doesn't blur out. Still, you won't know the message he's delivering. Maybe they should have kept the web address stationary throughout the spot, too.

I give them a "B-" for effort, but a "D" for execution. At least somebody out there is thinking untraditionally for a traditional medium. And I still think a DVR-fighting tactic might smarten up that TV portfolio you may be putting together. Creative directors have told me directly that they are looking for smart thinking, not just clever words and pretty pictures.

And I believe Grasshopper's thinking goes much deeper...

I'm not the only one who's been blogging about this ad (and how bad it is). At the time of this post, the ad's received over 90,000 hits on YouTube. Personally, I've watched it three times while writing this post. And here I am telling you to check it out.

Forget commercial air time. This ad has already gone viral.

I bet that's what they wanted all along.

We've been played.