I’m really surprised that more TV networks, movie studios, etc don’t use the power of the internet and animation to their advantage. A good animation can go viral on the internet quite easily. Get it on youtube and have a few sites pick up on it and the hits start rolling in. The people who see the animation will then pass the word along via IM or social sites like Myspace and Facebook… pretty soon the hype train is rolling at 100mph and people don’t even notice that the animation they just watched was an advertisement.

Then, once the viewer sees the show on TV they’ll say “Oh, that’s that show that was mentioned in that cool animation. Hmm… I wonder what this show is about.” And if the show is good, a new audience member has just been gained — all through the power of the internet, animation and viral marketing.

Here is an example of a Showtime animation for the second season of their hit show The Tudors, premiering Sunday, March 30, at 9PM ET/PT.

I personally haven’t seen The Tudors but am now interested to see exactly what the show is about… hey, Showtime, how about you send over a copy of Season 1 on DVD.