When Ford first sponsored the network TV show "24" by letting it run commercial free, but for a Ford mini-movie bracketing both ends, it was an innovation. When it did it the second time around this year - to the common presumption that this means the first one was a success - it was foolishness, according to Joseph Jaffe.

when you have $100 million to spend on a launch, there are only a finite number of ways to waste it (and besides, the chimpanzee billion-dollar game-show idea was already taken). In other words, let’s not give the folks too much credit in the accountability department.

Jaffe goes on to point out that "24" viewers now know which convenient times to skip, and worse, that the Ford creative was terribly conceived so that it was sure to make viewers avoid the finale.