Video hits print

This September, Entertainment Weekly will feature an ad containing Video In Print (VIP) – an interactive video player placed inside the page, with five different watchable short video options. One of them is a Pepsi ad, because this is a rather pricey tie-in between the soft drinks company and TV company CBS. Press release here, while AdAge has details on the tie-in here. Technology has been provided by Americhip, whose “multisensorizing” ad inserts have previously included audio chips, LEDs, pop-ups, bubble wrap and a mojito-flavoured taste strip.

Though the screen looks tiny in the press screenshot above, this still feels like a fairly remarkable step, and one that puts the Esquire E-ink farrago into perspective – though still no news as yet how VIP been put together, what its battery life is, and if it’s biodegradable. And in a reverse of Esquire UK’s hardback distribution, this is only for subscribers based in New York and LA.

I’ll try to get hold of a copy next month, and let you know what I think. Expect the first video front page by the end of the year.

Update: here’s a sneak peek at the thing in action