Admiring Verizon’s ‘Droid’ Campaign
That was bloody cool I hear you eagerly proclaim. That was a teensie 15-second spot entitled “Never Miss”. It is a mere glimpse, yet artful and subtle enough to give us a whiff that hints to a potentially brilliant advertising campaign. The Verizon Droid campaign fulfills that mindboggling potential… Cue, a gritty 1 minute TV and Cinema spot for Verizon’s Droid SmartPhone line.
It had all the trappings and frills that come with typical science fiction set-ups… a huge quarry (a regular and affordable means to provide a rocky alien landscape in low-fi productions), suited explorer-astronauts in light-emitting suits, underground caverns home to strange hovering meteorite-things, and self-replicating ionic arms! The production value is excellent, the cinematography and CGi top-notch, and the editing at once suspenseful and snappy. This ad this leaves me certain of two things about Verizon phones:
One: Verizon phones are AWESOME. Two: they are SMART.
And if you weren’t entirely sure of that. Check out this next spot, entitled “Stealth”. In it, what looks like a fleet of B-2 Stealth Bombers drop their mystery loads on some innocent, rather baffled onlookers from various rural spots across the globe. These packages hit land like miniature meteorites reminiscent of scenes from “Independence Day” or “The War of the Worlds”. Is such bombarded WEAPON? No. It is a gift. The gift of Verizon super-technology to the doppy farmer population of middle America. Although I somewhat doubt the extent to which that is the prime consumer group.
And after all those cinematic thrills, the selection can be finalised with some Ads (“All Comers”, “4 Corners” and “Other Planets”) that, while admittedly somwhat duller, actually fill us in on what these things actually do! It seems might have to weigh it up against the Blackberry and iPhone.
