As promised, we’re back for the second dose of the Top 10 WTF? commercials in mobile. This week the spotlight centers on some more head scratching botches from our favorite carriers and manufacturers.
T-Mobile MyTouch Slide commercial
Let’s be honest, folks. Any MyTouch commercial could have made this list. This was a bad commercial because of the feature T-Mobile decided to tout. The “Genius” button was an abomination, it just wasn’t that good. Besides, why did T-Mobile put that family out on what looks to be an island with no background? It wouldn’t have looked as weird if there was a legit camping site in the background instead of all white.
Droid Razr Maxx HD: Long live the battery
Yes, Verizon and Motorola’s brand new ad for the Droid Razr Maxx HD made the list. I might get a little heat for this, but this commercial just didn’t do it for me. I understand the whole “time stands still” message the company tried to get off, but it was ineffective at carrying out the message. Motorola should’ve been more clever, with showing how much better the battery on the Maxx HD is during a demonstration of some sort. The way the commercial was shot was just flat out bizarre.
LG Optimus T “The Play” commercial
This video really annoys me. What does a play have to do with the phone? See, this is what happens when you have no killer feature on the handset to show off in a commercial ad. Plus, it doesn’t help that the song in the ad makes my ears bleed. It’s not much more you can say about this commercial, it’s just bad.
Nokia N82 “Fairytale” commercial
After watching this commercial of the Nokia N82, I was left trying to figure out what had happened. Was this a mobile phone commercial or an ad for partying it up in the underbelly’s of the city? This would have been one hell of a vodka or Heineken commercial, but that’s where Nokia went wrong. The video had a weird ending too. Just when you thought the commercial would end with an image of the phone, it ended with a woman staring directly into the camera. It’s creepy if you ask me.
BlackBerry takes a shot at Apple ad
Talk about underestimating your competition. The commercial above came out about three years ago, when the top execs at RIM still had their heads up their asses. This ad is indicative of the corroded mindset of the company at the time. Making a commercial about being the world’s first touchscreen BlackBerry, and sticking your chest out boldly saying “nothing can touch us,” instead of innovating — ended up being the company’s demise.
This quote from Steven Brasen, researcher at Enterprise Management Associates, sums it up best when talking about RIM’s decline and Apple’s dominance: “There was a lot of arrogance; RIM’s executives believed they owned the mobile space.” He added “They did not see this coming.” (NYP) There’s nothing creepy or funny about this video, it’s just arrogance leading to failure.