Definition of donut

prerecorded commercial with a blank time span in the center into which a special advertising message may be inserted. A donut is made by a production company and used by an advertiser who advertises on a regular basis and whose message is basically the same, but whose product will differ from time to time. For example: A retail chain may feature a different product for sale every week, although the theme of each sales promotion will be the same. Every week, their commercial will have the same opening and closing, and will use the same music and store logo. Thus, each week the production company will only have to shoot a new middle portion to feature the week's product(s), rather than having to shoot an entirely new commercial. The use of a donut saves the advertiser a great deal of money on production costs and guarantees continuity in the commercials. Further, dubs of a donut can be sent to the networks and used over again each week, saving time, storage space, and effort. Only the middle section of the commercial will have to be trafficked on a weekly basis.