free commercials

Remember when CBS ran two Super Bowl commercials in a row that featured guys running around in their underwear? I mentioned it in my picks for the worst Super Bowl ads, and now CBS is actually apologizing for it (and that's not all).

The network is going to give Dockers three free commercials during the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament coming up this month. The Dockers ad ran first before another men-in-shorts commercial for CareerBuilder, so they're the ones that will get the free spots.

This is rather odd, and I wonder if it will set an unwanted precedent when it comes to what advertisers can expect/want. So what if the ads were similar in content? It's not like Dockers and CareerBuilder are Coke and Pepsi and they ran ads next to each other. Maybe CBS should give viewers something for free for having to endure the commercials. I'd like a 'Late Show' mug.

[via Mediabistro]