15 SECOND MEALS

I had a stupendous dinner last week. In fact, I cooked a stupendous dinner. My wife coached me on what to do while on her cell phone on her way home from work one evening. I prepared, cooked, and served to my family, and it was a dish I’d never had before. As we sat scratching our full bellies after the meal, I asked the missus where she got the recipe.

“On TV.”

“Oh. Rachael Ray? Alton Brown? Emeril?”

“No, I got it from a commercial. No, wait. In fact, it was a 15-second FoodTV promo.”

“You got that recipe in 15 seconds? Did you write it down?”

“No.”

“Well, how did you remember it?”

“I saw it a few times, and finally decided to make it.”

And clients still try to tell me that 30 seconds isn’t enough time for an effective commercial. Bull. With the right message repeated enough times, you can make your point in very little time, indeed. Case in point, naysayers: I made a delicious supper for my family using a recipe gleaned from a 15-second promo on TV!

It isn’t hard to present a recipe, or any message in 15 seconds. You just have to know who you want to reach, and what you want them to know. And you must understand that their time is valuable – so you gotta make your point.

That’s what FoodTV knew about us. They knew that as regular FoodTV viewers, my wife and I like to cook, are interested in new recipes, and know our way (more or less) around a kitchen. They didn’t waste our time with step-by-step instructions on how to cook pasta, how to chop garlic, or how to choose a tomato. Granted, the recipe wasn’t fancy, and wasn’t difficult. It was a great “middle-of-the-week-I-don’t-know-what-do-you-wanna-have” meal. But to my wife and me, it was remarkable. We agreed we’d have it again, and we both remember how to make it next time.

Advertisers, do you see what I’m getting at? Tell the right people what they want to know, don’t let ‘em forget where they heard it, and YOU WILL MAKE A LASTING IMPRESSION!

And here’s the recipe, by the way: Put a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, saute a couple cloves of garlic and some onion. Dice about half a dozen tomatoes and add to the saute until everything’s warmed though. Season to taste, and toss with your favorite pasta. Light, easy, and really quick.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I smell something burning.