Really cool...advertising?

I have to admit that since we got our DVR, I haven't watched many commercials. I'm so glad Jeremy found a way to "reprogram" our remote to make one of the buttons work as a 30 second skip - can you believe they don't automatically provide that feature? So between watching Connor's shows (which are commercial free PBS/Disney shows) and using that great 30 second skip feature for the shows I like, I now rarely see any commercials unless I'm just too lazy to skip them! :) I know this irks advertisers to no end and I've read that they're trying more product placement within shows and that there are more pop-up/pop-under ads on the internet but I don't consciously notice the product placement on tv (I know, that's the point) and I have a nifty ad blocker for the 'net. :) I think the main place Connor is bombarded with it is at the store - cereal boxes, clothing, shoes, toothbrushes, towels, sheets, backpacks, etc, etc, etc all with his favorite characters plastered all over them. We resist as much as possible (especially the cereal and fruit snacks!) but have recently started giving in to certain characters on certain things - he has Spiderman sheets (but a plain blue blanket and blue/green quilt), Winnie the Pooh toothbrush (I couldn't find a non-character one!), and a few items of clothing with Spiderman, Curious George or Bob the Builder on them.

My point is that I know advertising is everywhere these days and I do try to minimize our exposure to it when possible so you'll be shocked to hear that I found a piece of advertising that I think is so cool I had to blog about it! We were walking through the mall the other day and there was a "game" display on the floor. There were kids "kicking" soccer balls the first time we went past - there was an image projected from the ceiling onto some sort of special flooring that sensed the kids' movement and moved the soccer balls when they moved. We did our shopping and on the way past again, Connor walked onto the special flooring and discovered that he could kick presents out of the picture by moving his feet in a kicking motion. After a few seconds the game changed to a puddle and he learned that he could "splash" the water by stomping on the floor. Next came colored blocks that followed him around wherever he walked. A few seconds later it was fireworks that went off when he stepped on them (hmm, not sure about the message there!). Somewhere in the middle of this I wondered why this was here in the middle of the mall - it was pretty cool entertainment! I noticed a web address would appear near the corners occasionally and came home to look it up - http://reactrix.com. You should go there and view the demo. It's meant to be advertising and they say things on the website about how people are so engaged by how interactive it is that 60% go home and tell someone about it. Well, that's me, so it worked for them again! I honestly don't remember any advertising during the five minutes we were there - at least not as blatant as the ones in their demo video. But now I want to go back and see if I just absorbed it subconsciously! It was really a neat idea and it obviously worked with me in some way because I'm telling you about it. If you live close to Twin Peaks Mall go check it out - it's in front of the movie theater. :)