What’S Bugging You?

That cockroach crawling across the screen isn’t ON your television, it’s IN it. Many viewers have felt like suckers after being frightened by the roach in a commercial for Orkin Pest Control. Two viewers even asked the company to repair sets that they damaged when they hurled objects at the bug. “Apparently, when you’re sitting in your darkened den it seems pretty real,” said Michael Lollis, executive creative director at the Atlanta office of J. Walter Thompson, which created the ads, titled “Fake Out.” They began airing, mostly at night, on March 1 in 90 percent of the country. Lollis said the spot required “lots of little technical tricks.” The creators added a slight glow around the edge of the bug so it would appear to be sitting on the screen.