We've all heard about people cutting their cable cords and the rise of streaming services like Crave TV and Netflix.
But if you thought commercials as a medium were on their way out, think again.
Commercials haven't gone anywhere. In fact, Audra Lesosky from Winnipeg's McKim Communications Group said there are many places to see them, aside from on the small screen.
"It's video and it runs across multiple mediums, including online and in theatres etc."
But with so many viewing options, Lesosky said creative commercials are more critical than ever.
"The age of the lazy commercial is over. You cannot just tell people anymore. You need to sell, you need to engage, you need to engage them, and you need to delight them.”
The commercials playing at the Winnipeg Art Gallery understand this all too well.
Starting Thursday, the WAG will screen the best commercials from around the world. It's an annual festival devoted to ads called the 2017 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Judges watched 37,000 commercials from 94 countries, and selected the very best for awards.
"It's high cinematic quality," said the WAG’s Catherine Maksymiuk.
"There's some that are funny, some that are more serious, but they always make you think, one way or another."
The commercials are cinematic and of a quality people pay to watch year after year. And that is an ad maker's dream come true.
"If people are going to seek out your ad's unprompted?" said Lesosky. “You can't do better than that!"
Unlike most commercials, these ones won't disappear off the screen after 30 seconds or so. The festival runs through to Dec. 29.
