Honda Reaches For The Sky and Finds Advertising Gold

Difficult Really Is Worth Doing In U.K. Three-Minute Live Ad That Keeps Channel Surfers and DVRs At Bay

The prospect of a three-minute TV ad in the U.S. is unheard of for many reasons, including costs and painfully short attention spans. It's enough to get people to sit still to watch the Super Bowl spots, let alone the average commercial between segments of "Cold Case" or "According to Jim."

So, what was Honda thinking when it aired a three-minute ad on Britain's Channel 4, an ad, that for good measure, was being broadcast live? Probably, that they'd get a lot of publicity.

Good thinking.

The key to pulling off the spot, which cost only about $1 million to put together and air, was having some very skilled skydivers do what they do best. Watch what happens next.

And in a rare feat of ratings magic, more people tuned into Channel 4 while the ad, which had been well-hyped in the British media, was on.