The ads, which were created by Durham agency McKinney, lets viewers choose which of four endings they want to watch.

"I think we are trying to find a more engaging way to use TV advertisements, to get viewers more involved with our brand," said Kevin Berman, marketing manager for Sony Electronics.

That's crucial for advertisers, who worry that viewers with TiVos or other types of digital video recorders are fast-forwarding through commercials. Earlier this year, KFC ran spots with clues to food give-aways that could be seen only when played back on a DVR.

About 12 percent of U.S. households have a DVR, in contrast to 3 percent two years ago, according to Leichtman Research Group.

The spots began airing last week. They open with a man and woman admiring a Bravia TV in a store window, oblivious to the other's presence until they both remark under their breath: "Nice picture."

That's when buttons materialize on-screen offering "endings for men" and "endings for women."

DVR users can choose either button. Viewers with video on demand can choose at their cable company's video-on-demand channel. Don't have either? The choice is made for you. Or you can go to sony.com/hdtv and see them all.

Men get two macho options: a sports melodrama or a martial-arts cartoon. Women get a send-up of a heroic female doctor or a musical with a footwear fetish.

The interactive approach fits with Bravia's existing campaign as "the world's first television for men and women," said John Newall, group account director at McKinney. That campaign is based on research that shows men want a brilliant, bigger picture, while women supposedly want a TV that looks good with the rest of the furniture. Bravia, Sony says, is designed for both.

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