Virgin Mobile Uses Webcam “Blinkwashing” In New Ads

Virgin Mobile is using a new technology called “blinkwashing” for a new series of YouTube ads that, in brief, uses webcams to react to a viewer’s blinks. Including 25 videos, the technology time-codes every word across each video to “create a smart caching system that switches seamlessly between videos whenever the viewer blinks.” In an ideal use-case, a viewer switches videos so quickly that five or six blinks creates a full sentence. It’s a very interesting way to move through content and create viewer engagement, but whether this is a sustainable practice through multiple campaigns is doubtful at best.