The Bastardization of Claymation Christmas Specials

A Christmas themed spot from my favorite campaign currently on TV came out recently. Perhaps you've seen it:



This just-plain-adorable spot places the iPhone on the Island of Misfit Toys, which you may recall from the classic 1965 claymation, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The phone is a misfit because, according to Verizon and the cute screwed up toys in the ad, the iPhones cool features are countered by the poor 3G coverage of AT&T.

It seemed so clever to me until I realized that this wasn't the first time a Rankin/Bass animation had been morphed into an ad. Please recall this spot from Christmas 2007:



The Aflac Duck, created by Kaplan Thaler Group and voiced by the incomparable Gilbert Gottfried, substitutes as the lead for Santa's sleigh in the stead of an incapacitated Rudolph.

A little disappointing that Verizon didn't do their homework on this one (or they didn't take into account that both commercials would appear during the same Thanksgiving Day Parade, as they did today). The spot is just so well done that I may forgive them on this one. At least it isn't Luke Wilson throwing postcards all over a map.

Regardless, hope you all enjoyed your turkey day. Gilbert wishes you all a Happy Black Friday:

Best ad on TV 10/22: Mac vs Windows 7

Thursday night prime time is always a great time to debut commercials, in my opinion. I'm not a big TV viewer and yet I can sit down and watch straight through for more than two hours (this week, if you're curious, was Flash Forward, the Office, 30 Rock, and It's Always Sunny. It helps to have a roommate who's a TV nerd).

Combine this time slot with a lot of young viewers, and you'll usually see some good ads. Throw in the launch of a new Windows OS and it's war.



Despite my last two posts endorsing anti-Mac ads, I have to find some way to appear non-biased. As far as the commercials go, Mac won on Thursday night. It may not really be prudent to buy a Mac instead of just upgrading your OS, but it becomes an inticing alternative for people entering the new computer market, especially if they've had a negative experience with a Windows upgrade or with a computer that started with Vista.

That's exactly what this one touches on. John Hodgman is always great as "PC," but he takes it to a new level in this one. I don't know what I like more, the 1995 flipping aviators or the creepy "trust me" smile.

It's tough to go against a 90% market share behemoth in any category, but TBWA time after time does a wonderful job playing David to Microsoft's Goliath.

"iDon't" ads pit Droid against iPhone: Tonight, we dine in hell

Two posts about Verizon/Apple in a row? This must be an advertising blog...



The iPhone's dominance in the trendy smart phone category is finally going to be challenged by Verizon. The Verizon Droid, slated to come out this November, claims to be everything iPhone is not. Their clever :30 spot which came out this week lists every common qualm people have had with the iPhone and does so by cleverly spoofing every Apple ad you've ever seen, with black-on-white text and an indie sountrack. After listing all the things iPhone doesn't so ("iDon't..."), it cuts to some wild sci-fi scene with the words "Droid Does"

If Droid does do all these things, it should challenge Apple rather quickly. Despite the iPhone's dominance in the market, this ad has pinned down every reason people would have to switch, or to not choose iPhone in the first place if they're shopping for their first smart phone. A lot of them aren't really a big deal ("iDon't take pictures in the dark; iDon't run simultaneous apps"), but the biggies are things like "iDon't have a real keyboard," "iDon't allow open development," and of course, the lack of "The Network," Verizon's primary leg up on the competition.

A visit to the official website, DroidDoes, offers little information except that seen in the ads: all the things Droid does, most of which iPhone does not. You can sign up to receive email updates, and there is a strange countdown in some alien language that Christopher Daggett at TechCrunch has apparently decoded to mean a countdown to October 30 at 1:00:00 AM.

Verizon Droid by Motorola (photos courtesy Boy Genius Report)

You have to think that Verizon is finally getting it right, going for the jugular in their war with AT&T. It all boils down to a pretty simple message, "Our network is better than yours, and our stuff is as cool as yours, nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah." By all accounts, the next large battle will commence with the next shot heard round the world, sometime around October 30.

Verizon: Don't you forget about me

With all the buzz building around Apple's iPhone, it's about time the guys at VW retaliated.

There's a Map For That:


They could have gone the parody route, saying "there's an ap for" various ridiculous things, but the way they did this I think is awesome. Verizon has been using the "map," that is, the one of their 3G coverage, for a while. Finally they hammer home with consumers the basic advantage they have: if you buy an iPhone and go to AT&T, you'll lose 80% of the 3G coverage you could have with Verizon.

Excuse me as an aspiring ad practitioner for not bowing to the mighty Apple, but finally someone is swinging back at their snarky, indie spots they've been running for years.

It's good to see Windows taking a shot too, with the "I'm a PC, and I'm..." campaign. In the spots, they give people cash if they can find a computer within their budget, and it's always a PC because Macs are too expensive. Another clever way to take a shot at the ad giant's chinks in the armor.



Then again, if everything was about cost and functionality, this industry wouldn't exist. Thanks, Mr. Jobs.