Motorola suggests Apple's iPhone is feminine in latest TV spot
The new commercial for the Motorola Droid, entitled "Pretty," debuted on TV this week. Thought it never specifically names the iPhone, it does show images of people admiring an iPhone-like device, albeit with concave sides. In one brief shot, a blonde woman holds a white mock iPhone in front of her as she crosses a street and applies lip gloss, with the word "princess" laid across the screen.
"It's not a princess, it's a robot," the commercial says of the Droid. "A phone that trades hair-do for can-do."
The advertisement also calls the Droid "fast — racehorse duct-taped to a Scud missile fast." Clearly geared toward a male audience, it also states that the handset "does rip through the Web like a circular saw through a ripe banana," accompanied by footage of a destroyed fruit.
Motorola's advertising blitz focused on men could be working. At least one recent study found that men of ages 18-and-up have shown increased interest in Motorola while buzz about Apple has decreased.
View the new commercial in its entirety:
Both Motorola and Verizon have stepped up advertising to hype the Droid, which launched in October. The first ad campaign also directly targeted Apple, lampooning its commercial style with the tagline "iDon't." The TV spot, which teased the then-impending launch of the Droid, attacked the iPhone's lack of a physical keyboard, inability to multitask with third-party applications, and absence of a camera flash.
The Motorola Droid is the first handset on the Verizon network to utilize Google's Android mobile operating system. Tension built over the last few months between Verizon and AT&T, the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the U.S., as Verizon began to run a series of advertisements mocking Apple's "There's an app for that" slogan with the tagline "There's a map for that," comparing 3G coverage maps of the two companies. The dispute led to a lawsuit from AT&T, which was dropped this week.
328 Comments
Someone should tell Motorola that the iphone is BOTH good looking, feels good in a hand AND is FAST.
Nice to see someone other than Apple actually advertise they have a phone.
Sorry, Moto, I'll take that blonde over a robot anyday.
It is obvious this add is aimed at young men (boys) 14 to 21 that haven't realized their inner fantasy is to marry a beauty queen someday. The rough and tough graphics with plenty of things that "blow up real good" is perfect imagery for these guys. In a funny way this ad is more about style over substance than any of the iPhone ads have been. You don't really get to see the phone until the final seconds and guess what it looks like the iPhone or many of the clones out there already. This is a lifestyle fantasy ad and does nothing to inform us on the advantages of the Droid other than its a guy phone that wont emasculate you when you are asking your mom what she is making for dinner.
Oh man... Thems is fightin words!!! I guess motorola is just jealous cuz he can't have an iphone!!! Cuz then they'd know the truth!!! Lolz!!!
Steve and Jonny must be LIVID! and FURIOUS!
That white iPhone was always a bit naff.
Yeah, I know that car and beer commercials have been playing on guys' stupid need to feel macho/manly/etc etc for decades, but this is asinine.
I could see this working if the iPhone was, say, pink, or had "feminine curves" (shaped like an hourglass or whatever), but it's a black and metal rectangle. That's it. You can't get much more "meat & potatoes" than that.
I'm sure the Droid will sell pretty well, but I can't imagine that being due to this ad.