Warning: turn down your volume if you decide to follow this link:

SitePal came up with a pretty cool idea. They developed a technology that allows cartoon avatars to speak your message. Move the mouse around inside the box, and their eyes will follow it. Type in some silly statement, and listen to her speak it out loud. You can even change avatars and voices.

Here’s why I hate it. After the first few times of seeing it, the advertisement becomes extremely annoying. I don’t know if I just happen to frequent the few websites that run this ad, but it seems as if it has been placed everywhere. If you accidentally move your mouse over the image, you are suddenly greeted with “Type in your message and I will say them to you.” (Or something to that affect). The volume seems unusually loud, and if you happen to have just been listening to iTunes, it can blow you out of your seat!

I suppose it is a sound marketing idea. I even clicked on the ad just to see what it was all about. But it isn’t something I would use, and I don’t think anybody really “needs” it. So how about changing the message to a simple “Hello!” and maybe rotating through different avatars and voices. As it is now, I have actually backed out of websites just to get away from that repetitive message.