Ask.com has turned to Ask A Ninja for its latest online advertising effort, according to ClickZ. The live-read video campaign inserted into the popular video blog is the latest element of Ask.com’s ad campaign for its revamped Ask3D search engine.
In the spots, which appear at the end of the ninja’s videos, the ninja urges viewers to use Ask.com to find videos around made-up ninja words like “ningiants,” “ninjuice,” and “nonja”:
“This episode was brought to you by Ask.com,” screeches the ninja as a search term appears below his face in the video frame. “Go to Ask.com, type in this ninja word twice as fast as you physically can, and you’ll either get a cool ninja video treat or a sword in your head. That’s a pretty good deal. I’d take that risk, but I’m a ninja.”
Certainly better than the billboards that bring up the Unabomber, or ads with scantily-clad “chicks with swords” that likely offended at least half the intended audience.