TED.com seems to think so. If you’ve watched any of their video lectures, you’ve probably noticed that they are one of the few places online that does not force the viewer to sit through a 15- or 30-second advertisement before their video starts, and it does not have ads overlaid on the content while it is playing. A simple sponsor logo is at the beginning of each video for no more than a few seconds.  Their idea behind this is…

We want to nurture ads so good you choose to watch. On TED.com, ads run after our talks, not before. This means they can run longer than the TV-standard 30 seconds. And that’s the key! In 2-3 minutes, there’s enough time to really tell a story, share an idea, make an authentic human connection, become unforgettable.

They have taken this idea of nurturing good ads and made a competition on their site “Ads Worth Spreading.” The top 10 winners and 14 honorable mentions in the competition are now featured online, and they featured the the top 10 at the Main Stage of TED. You can also see all the entries on their custom YouTube Channel for the competition. Personally, I think that the ads they have featured as winners absolutely fit the goal of telling a story and sharing ideas. 

I agree that it is nicer for brands to not force viewers to sit through an ad at the beginning of a video, but the real question is: does anyone actually sit and watch the advertisement after the content they came for is done?

Regardless of the answer, which only TED can tell us, take a look at the winners to see some extremely well done creative. My favorite is a 2-minute spot done for Intel called “The Chase,” an extremely clever way to show the power of the Intel Core i5 Processor.