I hereby decree

Check out the New York Times today. They are showing a very creative and innovative ad for OS X Leopard. [Screen Shot] At the end of this ad they call the viewer to action by suggesting that he/she learn more about the operating system by taking a guided tour. Great. Perfect. This is what every ad should do, call to action. Except, I kind of feel like instead of having me navigate away from the page (which I visited for a reason, supposedly) they should then load up whatever tour or video right there in the ad. They have plenty of space to do something with, why not use it?

I think that advertisers are not yet taking advantage of the interactive nature of the Internet as much as they could be. This ad comes close, kind of, but it really is still just a TV commercial with a hyperlink at the end. When you have the user hooked, why not offer them an opportunity to engage? Some ads give users this opportunity, but in the dumbest ways possible (i.e. Hitting a monkey or something).

I would love to see ads become more interactive in useful ways.