A terrific Cisco commercial aired during this morning’s World Cup match.

It featured young people from different parts of the world attempting a very cool trick with a soccer ball. They were recording video of their trick attempts with various smart phones. A catchy soundtrack played. Happy, young faces on the screen. In all, a very effective, feel-good commercial.

Then the Cisco logo flashed with the tagline: “The Human Network.”

At that point, I had no idea what was being advertised.

I have no idea what I can buy from Cisco directly.

The ad made me feel good, and I wish companies like Palm, Samsung, or Sony would put out advertising as effective as this. Unfortunately, they do not.

And here, on the rare occasion that a strong, effective tech-related ad is playing to a huge audience, no product is being advertised. Which makes this excellent commercial ultimately ineffective.