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Orange pays Polish actors to line up for iPhone

by Dave Caolo Aug 22nd 2008 at 12:00PM

Here's an odd story. When the iPhone launches in Poland today (8/22), there will be long lines at Orange retail stores. In fact, it's guaranteed.

Reuters is reporting that Orange has hired actors to queue up at "...twenty stores" on Friday to spark in interest. Before you say, "That's crazy," consider that many Americans were willing to sit in line for a week. For free.

Perhaps Orange is trying to pad a potentially lukewarm reception to high-priced plans. For example, the base iPhone plan will cost 195PLN ($45) per month and will offer users 150 minutes of talk time plus 500MB of data.

Clever marketing or dirty pool? And what happens when the next actor in line reaches the counter and doesn't buy anything?

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Here's an odd story. When the iPhone launches in Poland today (8/22), there will be long lines at Orange retail stores. In fact, it's...
 

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Joduba

Well what they can do is simply pay the actor with the iphone they was lining for,...

A way to make it more realistic ;-)

August 26 2008 at 4:56 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Thevil

Telia did the same thing here in Sweden. Well, Telia blamed their ad agency.

Turned out that they never needed the que-people anyway.

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.expressen.se%2Fprylar%2Fiphone%2F1.1228173%2Ftelia-skulle-fejka-iphoneintresse&hl=sv&ie=UTF8&sl=sv&sl=en&tl=en&tl=sv

August 22 2008 at 2:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Thevil's comment
Pebkac

No no no, get your story straight: Telia did no such thing, they were approached by said agency (who is not their real ad agency afaik) and clearly said something like "NO THANK YOU, we do not want/need your assistance in this matter". The agency had also issued some promotional mail saying that they wanted people in three major cities ready to queue outside stores for a major event on July 11th.

When the press got wind of this mail and published it Telia had to respond by saying they had nothing to do with it. Consequently the ad agency had to come clean and fess up that they made this whole thing up by themselves from the beginning. This was all over the press in Sweden, even the retraction that didn't receive quite the same headlines as the original story.

August 23 2008 at 5:57 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
nbidgood

> what happens when the next actor in line reaches the counter and doesn't buy anything?

They'll probably walk out with an iPhone bag containing their paycheck for standing in line.

August 22 2008 at 1:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Artur

Well, I actually checked and on of the operators (because there are two companies that carry iPhone) offers iPhone for 50 cents with monthly payment around $88 that includes 350 minutes free (incoming calls unlimited free - not sure but I think only in the U.S. people pay for incoming calls, that doesn't make any sense to me btw), and 2GB data transfer per month.

August 22 2008 at 1:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Alex

IF you had bothered to look you would see that the iphone costs 199pln if bought online or 349pln if bought in store (orange), and its roughly the same prices for era, get ur thoughts straight

August 22 2008 at 1:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Alex's comment
Artur

yes, but if you get a $88 plan it costs you 1PLN (50 cents)

August 22 2008 at 5:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
superpixel

Wow. Maybe they've got some "stunt boxes" with bricks in there so the illusion is complete.

August 22 2008 at 1:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Raphael Salgado

I've got a better idea. Stop wasting money on temporary actors and adjust the plans so that they're somewhat less extortive. Just a thought, Orange.

August 22 2008 at 1:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
greg

How much polish actors get paid for this??? thats why base plan cost so much........
www.laptopsonly.co.uk

August 22 2008 at 12:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Michał

Base plan costs 150PLN ($67 - one dollar is 2,22PLN today).
You pay for 200 minutes of talk time and 1GB of data monthly.
Era (T-Mobile actually) is cheaper - "only" 95PLN (~$40) per month, for 150 minutes and 500MB of data. And of course iPhone, "just" 719PLN or 999PLN ($325 and $450).

August 22 2008 at 12:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Isaiah

astro turf is never as nice as real grass roots

August 22 2008 at 12:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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