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The best place to find new viewers?  CBS thinks it might be inside your refridgerator.

CBS is toying with the idea of imprinting their logo, names of shows, and other CBS advertising on eggs using a alcohol based dye ink.  And that's no yoke...I mean, joke.

From today's New York Times article:

The network plans to announce today that it will place laser imprints of its trademark eye insignia, as well as logos for some of its shows, on eggs — 35 million of them in September and October. CBS’s copywriters are referring to the medium as “egg-vertising,” hinting at the wordplay they have in store. Some of their planned slogans: “CSI” (“Crack the Case on CBS”); “The Amazing Race” (“Scramble to Win on CBS”); and “Shark” (“Hard-Boiled Drama.”). Variations on the ad for its Monday night lineup of comedy shows include “Shelling Out Laughs,” “Funny Side Up” and “Leave the Yolks to Us.”

George Schweitzer, president of the CBS marketing group, said he was hoping to generate some laughter in American kitchens. “We’ve gone through every possible sad takeoff on shelling and scrambling and frying,” he said, adding, “It’s a great way to reach people in an unexpected form.”

Newspapers, magazines and Web sites are so crowded with ads for entertainment programming that CBS was ready to try something different, Mr. Schweitzer said. The best thing about the egg concept was its intrusiveness.

“You can’t avoid it,” he said. He liked the idea so much that he arranged for CBS to be the only advertiser this fall to use the new etching technology. The CBS ads are the first to use imprinting technology developed by a company called EggFusion, based in Deerfield, Ill. Bradley Parker, who founded the company, wanted to reassure shoppers that egg producers were not placing old eggs in new cartons, so he developed a laser-etching technique to put the expiration date directly on an egg during the washing and grading process.

I'll give it up for the folks at EggFusion on having a cool, original marketing idea.  And, to the execs at CBS who aren't afraid to stray from the normally bland TV advertising that we've all grown accustomed to.  But do I really want to see an ad on my egg?  I'm still thinking about it, to be honest.

The lesson here is that innovative companies are never afraid to push the envelope when it comes to finding sources for new sales leads (or, in this case, "viewers").  Are you using all of your tools and resources to get your message out and create new customers...no matter how outlandish the idea?