Disney's
Somehow, I doubt The Lost Experience will answer some of the series' most heated questions. (Who are the Others? Why the heck can't everybody just get along? What's the deal with the Dharma Initiative? And shouldn't the castaways look just a little bit grimier?) It might be a fun game, but it's more notable for the insight it offers into the beleaguered TV advertising industry.
The Lost Experience will be an online game, debuting May 3. According to The New York Times, players will be able to join forces and find clues in a variety of different places, including emails, billboards, toll-free phone numbers, and fake Web sites. Although you might be wondering about the advertising angle I mentioned above, the game is designed by the show's writers, who apparently want to keep the game "organic to the show."
However, a Lost writer and executive producer told The New York Times that viewers should "watch the May 3 episode very carefully. You can TiVo
Is this another bid to get viewers interested in TV advertising again? A recent survey revealed that marketers now consider TV advertising a less effective alternative to other means of product evangelism. As a result, there's been a whole lot of experimentation in TV advertising recently. For example, General Electric
In truth, with TiVo and other DVR products letting users skip commercials, and Internet companies like Google
Maybe I'm reading too much into the importance of ads to the game. I hope they won't play too big a role, lest potential players get annoyed and tune it out. More importantly, I hope that the game will be as smart, creative, and thought-provoking as the show that inspired it, full of similar twists, turns, and symbology. Many of us might be tempted to get lost in The Lost Experience. Let's just hope we don't end up stranded amid an ocean of ads.
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Alyce Lomax does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned.