Rovion Puts NBC's Chuck Avatar on Sites...Whoops.

I admit it. Sometimes I can’t resist messing with some of the folks that call me up to see if I’d like to hear more about their latest news announcement. Case in point, I got a call today from Rovion about NBC using its technology to promote the series premiere of “Chuck,” a show about a computer geek mistaken for a spy.

Using Rovion’s InPerson platform, the actor playing Chuck will be walking across Web sites like Entertainment Weekly, National Lampoon, UGO, eBaum’s World and others, talking to viewers to about the show. It’s essentially a moving video banner ad that can travel across the screen and even provide a level of interaction. But from having written about Rovion and guys in gorilla suits and dancing zits in the past, I couldn’t resist poking a corporate hot button.

“Oh yeah, Rovion,” I said. “You’re the guys that do the video avatars online!”

There was the briefest of silences on the line, as if the poor guy was saying to himself “oh, here we go again,” and then he took a deep breath.

“Actually no, they’re not really avatars,” he said slowly. “We prefer to call them Video Spokespeople.”

Don’t worry Rovion. I apologized for my teasing and promised not to call Chuck an avatar. He is clearly a video spokesperson, as seen to the left.