The Malaysian advertising industry recently saluted the opening of a new advertising medium on the internet at lookatmyprettybannerads.com with a party in Bangsar.
It promises to be an ad-only site -- its brochure calls it "the first of its kind on the internet, including the bits outside of Malaysia". There will be every manner of banner ads from pop ups to pop-unders, skyscrapers to square ads and even the splash screen flash animation, following the tradition of the Dove ad on Catcha.com.my.
"We took the concept of the internet and, as Neil French once told me, we 'pushed the envelope'," said an account director from Zenithmedia. "I mean, that's why the internet was created, wasn't it -- for advertising."
"There is nothing else relevant on the internet to Malaysians except Malaysian websites," added a spokesperson from the 4As advertisers association,"So we can expect all 6 million users to visit our site, by, oh, maybe Sunday."
When it was pointed out that there is actually more to the internet that might draw users, such as web applications and web services, a 6As spokesperson declared,"We'll start taking the internet seriously when the One Show starts giving awards for best web site. Oh wait."
In addition, the 4As proposed setting up a system to charge visitors a measly RM80 per visit. "Nothing is free. This is a veritable museum of Malaysian web ingenuity. We ARE pushing the barriers of web design and internet development in Malaysia."
