I’m not a “tv ad guy” and I’ll admit I’m not truly hip to the whole marketing and psychology of tv marketing. But, these Palm Pre ads that are currently ruining my day… I just don’t get them.
Can’t you just imagine that meeting for the creative. A bunch of advertising creatives sitting around in their blue jeans and funny t-shirts around 7 empty boxes of pizza at 9 o’clock at night before the big client presentation.
Boss dude: “So what we need is an ad campaign for this new Palm Pre that is memorable and stands out from our competition”
Ad guy one: “So why don’t we do a commercial about how are product makes your life easier, saves you time and money”
Dumb ad guy: “No dude, that’s stupid. I’ve got the perfect idea for this multi-million dollar campaign! Let’s go find some creepy looking albino chick and pull her hair back so tight she looks like she could be a stand-in for the movie Alien. Then, let’s go get the cheapest, most brutal green screen guy in the world, and place her on a background that is devoid of realism and looks like it was painted by Bob Ross’ grandson. She can talk really softly over some stock music we buy from SterotypicalHorrorMovieMusic.com and incoherently babble about reincarnation, or walking in the park, or chopping up bodies in the bathtub. And at the end for the payoff she can hold up our stupid, worthless phone, and it will look great in comparison to the horrible 20 seconds they just experienced!”
Boss dude: “Gold. How soon can I have it!”
I just can’t imagine it went down any other way. Or at least I refuse to believe it did.
Of course they should have just gone all the way and done it properly…like this: