Pre ad is to iPhone ad as dude is to lady in Aerosmith song of the same name
Bell version
and an iPhone ad
Spooky, isn't it? Of course, there are only so many ways to illustrate the feature set of a multi-touch smartphone, aren't there? It's like when Newhart was sued by the guy who also wrote a handyman book. There are, in fact, only so many ways to explain how to nail a nail, Dick explains. Lucky us, all smartphone ads will now follow this format, making it much easier to determine which phone is best for us. Thanks, Bell!
[thanks to Philip Lam for the tip!]
Update: And here's an iPhone ad's audio on top of the Bell/Pre ad. Note the flow and that "how cool is that?" pops up at a cosmically opportune moment.
Bell/Pre ad with iPhone audio
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What can I say? White background, disembodied finger and digi-creepy stillness of the device... the Bell [Canada] version of an ad for the...
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For what it's worth, this is more or less in line with Bell's campaign for its entire line of services starting last September.
Basically, every ad involves people and families interacting with each other and their TV/Internet/cell phone as if they were in their own house, but they are really in this featureless white space with a giant 3d Bell wordmark looming creepily around them, and they don't seem to realize it. Sometimes they are sitting on it or leaning against it, or they've mounted their flat screen TV to it... then the camera pulls back and reveals that the weird curvy blue counter is actually the bottom curve of the 'e' in Bell.
So the Pre ad isn't really ripping off the iPhone ad look, it's just part of a larger campaign that is using the whole featureless white space look that you know from Apple ads (but I remember from Canadian Clearnet ads in the second half of the 90s before I ever saw an Apple ad). But Bell puts a spin on it by putting their giant, creepy looming logo IN the featureless space instead of appearing at the end.
Although, admittedly, the rest of the Bell ads feature some part of the giant 3d logo throughout the commercial, and this one seems to leave it off-camera until the end.
August 21 2009 at 3:07 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyUntil Palm gives developers a real SDK, and not this web app-style development, the Pre's apps will be heavily hindered in comparison to iPhone OS apps. Sure, it's not difficult to be running multiple apps when they don't have the power to do anything impressive. So, paid apps or not, I can't see an upside to using that platform if you can afford both providers.
August 21 2009 at 1:52 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThey really couldn't come up with ANYTHING more impressive than "with just one touch you can reduce and close"? Really? Because I'm so thrilled about the ability to reduce and close things on my phone with just one touch. I sure do love reducing and closing.
August 21 2009 at 1:17 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI love ads that just throw a bunch of words at you without really explaining anything. With just a touch I can REDUCE AND CLOSE?? And I can also MOVE BETWEEN MULTIPLE APPS? Being a nerd I know they are talking about the multitasking features of the Pre and are advertising the ability to run multiple apps at the same time, closing them easily in the cards view. As Joe Average I would think: eh what? Bell only copied the style of Apple's ads, not the self-explanatory here's-what-you-can-do presentation.
August 21 2009 at 12:20 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplySpooky?? Check this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8eKMyfG5ks&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmyblog%2Diphone%2Ede%2F2009%2F07%2F06%2Fpersil%2Dtouch%2F&feature=player_embedded#t=25
Anyone notice how fast that Pre ad showed the user typing in Twitter? Are we trying to say that a physical keyboard will allow us to type that fast?
Yea, right.
The hands...
...they are still. And I mean REALLY still.
The perfect rotation on the pre ad from portait to landscape and back is really creepy.
August 21 2009 at 11:58 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyImitation is the sincerest form of flattery. LMAO
August 21 2009 at 9:48 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThx, Joel, you saved me from typing the no brainer comment!
August 21 2009 at 9:46 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI'd rather them parody Apple than continue to show those godawful commercials with that creepy, glowing, albino woman talking nonsense.
August 21 2009 at 9:23 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyOh I'll have to agree with you there. I thought we weren't supposed to obey the Ice Queen.
August 21 2009 at 9:27 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyAmen! I don't know what they were thinking with those ads. They freak me out. I would never buy a Pre if those were the only ads I ever saw for the phone.
August 21 2009 at 10:54 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHot Apps on TUAW
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