Video ad on magazine page in US

LOS ANGELES: An upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly will include what's being billed as the first video advertisements ever in a print magazine.

According to a local news agency, a video player with a 2-inch screen will be embedded on heavy-stock paper -- similar to what's used by greeting cards that play bits of music -- and inserted into the magazine.

And as in those cards, the video will start up as soon as the insert is opened.

The first ads will be for CBS and Pepsi -- they'll appear in the magazine's mid-September TV preview issue -- but not in all copies. The magazine, which would not disclose the cost of the ads, said the insert will only be distributed in the Los Angeles and New York areas.

The video player, made by the L.A. company Americhip, also includes a little speaker. The ads will open with the cast of the show "The Big Bang Theory" joking about the video and explaining how the reader can bring up clips from the network's fall lineup. The soft drink ads are for Pepsi Max diet soda.