We Would Have Paid Attention To Your Tribute, But You Didn’t Tell Us It Was In 3D.

Tonight was the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards and for the most part it was pretty good- in fact, I’m still watching it while I’m writing this post. In the middle of the broadcast, they decided to honor legendary King of Pop Michael Jackson for his outstanding work with a stunning tribute by Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Smokey Robinson, Usher and many others. But while this happened and was meant to be something more like a memorial and pay honor to the fallen celebrity/entertainer, one thing that seemed to distract from this conversation was something simple: who told the public that this performance would be in 3D?

In doing a search using Bing, I found out that apparently there was some effort to tell the public that part of the Grammy’s, specifically the Michael Jackson tribute, was going to be in 3D, but probably for most of the people watching it around the world, we didn’t get the memo. And while it was only the portion of the performance that was video, one thing that you would notice is that the picture wasn’t sharp when the cameras panned on the entertainers themselves. I think it was great to see some contribution by Avatar director James Cameron, but frankly, your effort was buried under the conversation which has become a big fail on behalf of CBS and the Grammys.

Just look at the different conversations happening just by looking at Twitter tonight after the performance. In fact, here’s one that I found quite appropriate for this moment:

Don’t get me wrong, I think the tribute was fitting, but when you’re going to have something unique in a performance or product, then please tell your audience ahead of time. It was great to see the stars and musicians at the Grammy’s wearing their own 3D glasses, but did you know that they were available at Target stores for a price?

This is something that companies should account for when they’re launching a product or new opportunity. The message itself has been lost to the people that you’re trying to attract. On point, you’re promoting environmental awareness with an all-star group of performers and even bring out Michael Jackson’s kids to accept the award. It should be a heart-felt touching moment, yes? But unfortunately, the people online are not talking about your product/objective/goal. We’re talking about your flaws.

Did you watch the Grammy’s? What did you think about the Michael Jackson tribute? How was your experience with the 3D glasses?