10 years later, Verizon guy finally speaks up

The Atlantic has published a profile of Paul Marcarelli, Verizon's "Can you hear me now?" guy. What's next, a three-part series on Flo from Progressive Insurance? But actually, it turns out the Marcarelli piece is quite provocative, with a recurring and ironic theme of his being stifled from talking by the marketer—raising salient points about consumerism, identity and the failure to communicate in our media-drenched society. There are lots of fun, juicy tidbits about the bespectacled actor's decade-long tenure as the telecom's pitchman. We learn, for example, that Verizon made him sign a Draconian contract (just like its customers!) and wouldn't let him discuss his experiences with others. And Verizon didn't burn up the phone lines to tell Marcarelli it was phasing out his ads, choosing instead to inform him via email. A tad impersonal, but at least there was no danger of the network dropping the call. (He'll still do some work for the company, but says, "I'm no longer committed to them like I was.") The story takes a dark turn when Marcarelli, who is gay, tells of being hassled for years by a bunch of kids driving by his home at night in an SUV. The harassment grew more profane until, he says, "they started screaming 'faggot' up at my house." Afraid that coming out under such circumstances might imperil his ad gig, Marcarelli declined to file a police report. Currently, he's promoting The Green, a film he co-wrote and produced that tells the story of a town that turns against a gay couple, one of whom is a schoolteacher. The ultimate irony, of course, is that Marcarelli has many interesting things to say, but had to disconnect to truly find his voice.

Filed under Gianatasio, Telecom, Verizon
Permalink | Comments (4)

Apple wants all its iPhones to just get along

It's inevitable that older and younger siblings will fight for affection, as is now the case with the AT&T and Verizon iPhones. And like any good parent, Apple is professing to love them equally in the peacemaking new ad below. While I think they miss the mark a bit with the "Two is better than one" tagline (doesn't that imply you should buy both?), it's nice to see a neutral perspective. Because for all the frothing at the mouth by tech bloggers about the telecom wars, I have a feeling that most consumers don't really care about parsing the fine print or picking sides and are just happy to have more options.

Filed under Apple, AT&T, Griner, iPhone, Verizon
Permalink | Comments (0)

Tick, tock goes the first Verizon iPhone spot

Here is Verizon's first commercial for the iPhone 4, available on the carrier's network on Feb. 10. They go the obvious route, with ticking clocks counting down to the release date—which has been a long time coming for Verizon users. "To our millions of customers who never stopped believing this day would come," the voiceover says, "thank you."

Filed under Apple, iPhone, Nudd, Telecom, Verizon
Permalink | Comments (4)

Droid 2 also quite hazardous to human flesh

Fears that the Droid 2 won't be shoved down our throats as far as the Droid X was have been eased. A big push for Droid 2 is planned, and this ad from mcgarrybowen hints at what's to come. Droid advertising is certainly high on special effects—the ads could be mistaken for movie previews until Verizon, Google and Motorola's names come up—and the visuals are impressing people. For now. Another three or four straight months of watching Droids turn white people into robots could wear thin, ya know? Plus, I think it's telling how much these ads harp on about how much work the Droid helps you get done. Does anyone want to be connected to their work e-mail all the time? Exactly. UPDATE: Plus, the phone itself, released last week, supposedly sucks.

Filed under Google, Kiefaber, mcgarrybowen, Motorola, Telecom, Verizon
Permalink | Comments (1)

Ad casts Verizon as cure for racism, sexism

Verizon has dumped its oft-parodied "Can you hear me now?" tagline in favor of "Rule the air." To visually show just how much their network rulz, they've got the mcgarrybowen spot with the transmitters exploding out of buildings all Michael Bay style. But I'm interested in this one, called "Prejudice," in which a bunch of nice teenage girls tell us things like: "Air has no prejudice." "It does not carry the opinions of a man faster than those of a woman." "Air is unaware if I'm black or white and wouldn't care if it knew." Unencumbered by any air prejudice, they plan to "lead the army that will follow." So, a creepy army of racially diverse teenage girls will soon overthrow the Earth? That's a nice sentiment. But let me just say to my Gen Y counterparts: Verizon will not end racism and sexism with a cell phone, no matter how good the network or how wide the Droid X's screen is. Ain't going to happen. Of course, what cell phones really do for you is help you give birth to the 57th president of the United States.

Filed under Cullers, mcgarrybowen, Telecom, Verizon
Permalink | Comments (6)

Droid X proves a bit rough on sensitive skin

The launch ad for the Droid X, from mcgarrybowen, reveals the phone's origin story. Considering the brand's connection to LucasFilms—the name Droid is a Lucasfilm trademark that's been licensed to Verizon—we're surprised the ad was this good. Apparently the Droid spends its pupa stage cocooned inside a floating rock that mechanizes human limbs. Which begs the question of why anyone would remove their protective gear to stick their hand in it all willy-nilly. Did Philip K. Dick make this ad? The Droid's a cool phone and all, but nothing's worth that kind of risk.

Filed under Droid, Kiefaber, mcgarrybowen, Telecom, Verizon
Permalink | Comments (1)

Verizon robot signal towers take over world

Wow, this Verizon ad from mcgarrybowen suggests the company's signal towers are basically Murphy beds, just popping out of everything. The spot is part of the carrier's new "Rule the air" campaign, which replaces the longstanding "Can you hear me now?" The special effects are cool, and it was an interesting choice to use a retro logo at the end, while everything else is so futuristic. Still, I hope the occupants of that building and the owner of that car are reimbursed for having their property destroyed so that a yuppie couple can have an uninterrupted chat.

Filed under Kiefaber, mcgarrybowen, Telecom, Verizon
Permalink | Comments (3)

Droid teaser spots worth keeping an eye on

True to form, the new ad for the Motorola Droid X is long on aesthetics and short on information. The teaser is 15 seconds long and just shows a human eye changing into that of a robot. One practically needs a jeweler's eyepiece to make out the info reflected in the eye—which includes the name of the Droid's Twitter account ("Droid Landing") and a few hardware details (HDMI out, 4.3-inch WVGA Screen, 8MP camera). The drawn-out approach worked well for the Droid last time, and it'll probably do well now—there is a certain promise attached to futuristic, sci-fi imagery, especially when it's applied to gadgetry on the way. But will it still be cool a few months from now, when we've all gotten a little exasperated with all this fanfare for a fancy smartphone? It feels like the new Droid teaser is an ad for upcoming ads, not for the product itself.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Filed under Kiefaber, Telecom, Verizon
Permalink | Comments (2)

Verizon does Big Red, De Beers ad parodies

Verizon Wireless is clearly feeling giddy about its relentless pummeling of AT&T in the maps commercials, and is taking the campaign in all sorts of amusing and inspired new directions. Here are a pair of spoofs that McCann Erickson in New York whipped up. The one above is based on the classic Big Red gum commercials; the one below (timed to Valentine's Day) riffs on the De Beers diamond spots. Luke Wilson is going to be a busy man trying to respond to these.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under AT&T, McCann Erickson, Nudd, Parody, Telecom, Verizon
Permalink | Comments (14)

Droid phone will enthrall and/or enslave you

Mix the totalitarian subjugation of 1984 with the sinister cybernetic intelligence of 2001, and you get mcgarrybowen's launch spot (posted below) for Verizon's much-ballyhooed Droid phone. (I swear that's HAL 9000's all-seeing red eye about 22 seconds in.) It picks up the dark and industrial vibe from the tail end of the otherwise goofy and lighthearted teaser spot, which got lots of attention, particularly from Apple fans. The new spot stars intimidating robots who crush rocks and punch holes to assert their metallic superiority. And unless I've missed the point (unlikely, as I never have on AdFreak before, at least not that I'd admit), humans will do these droids' bidding once Earth is enslaved, toiling in factories and slugging it out in bloody boxing matches for their overlords' amusement. This isn't a smartphone, the ad warns, it's a robotphone. You don't talk to the boss on a Droid, the phone is your boss. Droid doesn't relay orders, it gives them. On the plus side, Justin Long will be among the first to go in the man-vs.-machine struggle. John Hodgman, a robot passing as flesh and blood, will probably get to run Cleveland.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Previously on AdFreak:
Apple fan strikes back at Verizon Droid spot
Creators of anti-Droid ad unmasked (sort of)

Filed under Gianatasio, mcgarrybowen, Telecom, Verizon
Permalink | Comments (7)

Creators of anti-Droid ad unmasked (sort of)

It turns out pros are behind the Apple-fanboy spoof ad (above) of the Verizon Droid ad spoofing Apple ads. The Wall Street Journal's Digits blog has an interview with the creators, described as staffers from a "Boston-area ad agency." The creative director, "Shawn" (they declined to give their last names), doesn't go out of his way to refute the notion that creative directors can sometimes act like jerks. He says the most controversial line in the spot, "iDon't buy brands who bash other brands," is pointed out as being hypocritical within the ad itself (by showing a Mac and PC clip and the line, "i… oops"). "Apparently even in fake advertising, you can go wrong estimating the intelligence of your audience," Shawn says. Ouch. The question remains: Which Boston-area ad agency is it?

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

Previously on AdFreak:
Apple fan strikes back at Verizon Droid spot

Filed under Apple, Morrissey, Parody, Telecom, Verizon
Permalink | Comments (5)

Apple fan strikes back at Verizon Droid spot

It was inevitable. The Verizon Droid spoof of an Apple commercial (below) has now been spoofed by an Apple fanboy in the video above. It just changes the copy with jabs about ripping off Apple and the interesting claim that "iDon't buy from brands that bash other brands." This makes my head hurt. We can only hope a Droid supporter doesn't spoof the spoof of the spoof. A hole might open in the universe. Via the WSJ's Digits blog.

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

Filed under Apple, Morrissey, Parody, Telecom, Verizon
Permalink | Comments (6)