You’d think that people would learn. Conference after conference, panel after panel, article after article, the pre-roll conversation rolls on. And, from my humble observations, it feels like we’re making some progress. The discussion isn’t just about the format being good or bad, but has moved into targeting, ad-to-content ratios, appropriate types of content, and protecting the user experience.

Turns out, though, that some people simply refuse to listen. Maybe it’s a last gasp of desperation from a desperate company. Maybe they didn’t sell these ad units. Maybe…..I dunno. But if you thought I had a bug up my ass about :30 second pre-roll, today’s bug is twice as large.

Clicking on a quick news story about the shooting of the Redskin’s Sean Taylor (link to text-only story from me!), I ran into a 1:02 long pre-roll ad for Levitra. The actual video story? 1:11. See pics below. Thanks for the fantastic user experience, Roo TV. UNACCEPTABLE. For the user, for the publisher, for anyone picking up the syndicated content, and it should be for the advertiser as well. Not a day goes by where I don’t have a “:15 vs :30″ conversation. What media buyer is shopping around a 1-minute pre-roll? Do they have to pay a premium for the annoyance factor? What planner is stuck trying to find publishers that will accept a minute long pre-roll? Or is Roo so desperate at this point that they’ll run anything anyone is willing to pay for?

Question - is there something about erectile dysfunction sufferers that they need to be hit over the head with advertising messages more than others?

C’mon, people. We can do so much better than this. Or can we? Jupiter’s Nate Elliott called this one out in the middle of the summer and yet this same damn ad is still running 6 months later.