Unilever tests Webisodes

According to the NY Times (found here and here) Unilever is trying webisodes for it’s „I can’t believe it’s not butter“ spray.
It is done in the style of old-fashioned soap operas, with all the clichees, etc. (I am relying on the judgement of the sources above, as I am not too much into soap operas.) It looks rather cheesy to me, with the product information („Low calories, low …“) lamely intertwined into the story.

The target group are women, and as more and more women using the internet, Unilever is now testing this channel. A Quote from the NY Times article:

„Classical advertising is not as effective and efficient as it has been in the past,“ said Javier Martin, who manages the brand at Unilever United States in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., „so we’re looking for more innovative ways to reach our consumers.“

The site is, like most of these kind of campaigns, relying on word-to-mouth. But I already read about some doubts people have. We shall see. I personally welcome the fact that more and more of the heavy TV spenders are testing the internet – my favourite channel.

Just one question remains, particularly as I am not from the US: a spray? Why a spray? And what do you do with butter you spray, where do you spray it? Onto a slice of bread?