Interactive TV was supposed to be this cool new medium where you could interact with what was broadcast to your flat screen. Did that Pizza Hut spot get you hungry for some cheesy bread? Press “A” to order! Did that Jaguar FX commercial make you hurt for a new sports car? Press “B” for a brochure!

Except iTV never really took off, and the most we ever experienced with it was some version called “Wink” that let us answer three trivia questions with our remote about a movie that was playing. It was a solitude version of shouting at the screen in movie theatres when those film questions air before previews.

Now megacorp Unilever wants in, and has inked deals with Comcast and DirecTV Group to roll out iTV spots this year. Some 20 different interactive ad campaigns are on deck, with Unilever brands including Degree deodorant and Bertoli. [WSJ]

And while we’d love to be able to push a button for a free underarm sample, what about an interactive Dove commercial, where pushing “A” shows us Photoshop before-and-afters?