Healthcare. Taxes. We all have different opinions on these matters. But, there seems to be at least one topic that almost every American can agree on – the notion that Palm’s Palm Pre TV commercials are creepy as all hell. Gary Koepke, the man behind the creepy ads, would have it no other way. Whether Koepke’s advertising firm Modernista had actually intended to get people talking about the Palm Pre by slightly scaring them isn’t a concern. All that matters is that the Palm Pre is “probably being talked about more than other phones right now because of the marketing and advertising, and that’s a good thing.”
In all reality, Modernista probably never intended to have their Palm Pre ads criticized and picked apart by the online masses. The ads feature a serene Tamara Hope explaining, with a she’s-gotta-be-high demeanor, how her Palm Pre has made her life easier. The net effect is a creepy commercial that sticks in your head. All that creepiness has even birthed a new set of Palm Pre commercial spoofs. And, Koepke is more than happy to have people remember his ads, regardless of the reason.
“We weren’t trying to creep people out, but one thing I have learned now in this digital age is people can be as rude as they want as long as they don’t have to look you in the face,” Mr. Koepke said. “It’s a very different look and feel for this sector. There’s nobody involved in an iPhone ad, and ‘Your life is on BlackBerry’ — isn’t that great? Instead of having a life? We wanted a middle ground between those two places — what about the people who want a really great smartphone?”
So, basically, no publicity is bad publicity. Right? We suppose so.
As for the future of the Palm Pre. We should see Palm Pre ads getting more and more interesting as time goes on. Palm is planning to launch a couple mini-series in a branded-entertainment push that is aimed at attracting an even wider audience to the Palm Pre. Seth Macfarlane, the creator of “Family Guy,” is putting his creative genius to work on an upcoming web series centered around the Palm Pre.
Should be good times.
[Via: AdAge]