The Droid Is Not A Princess

by Rob Jackson on December 2nd, 2009 at 2:33 pm

It is pretty clear that Verizon is targeting males with the Motorola Droid. Not only does the phone LOOK masculine but the commercials have all been guy friendly. The robotic voice, the stealth bombers, the dark red terminator-like orb/eye… but they’ve never straight up said it. Until now:

“It’s not a princess… it’s a robot.”

The entire commercial is obviously and totally dude-oriented and that “porcelain phone” they show being blown to smithereens? Looks an awful lot like the iPhone – a comparison I bet they are hoping you’ll make. But it isn’t an actual iPhone as you can clearly see:

droid-princess

Although it LOOKS like the iPhone, the phone in the commercial gets more slender in the middle of the device which accentuates a “feminine” look/feel. Maybe they wanted the effect but didn’t want to deal with the hassles of another lawsuit from AT&T.

In the news:

Motorola Droid

4.5 / 5 stars

swehes
I like it! :)
ari-free
contrast with the iPhone commercials I watched during V: Jamie Oliver apps and the Sims.
Cybersedan
I love it!! This one even tops the ad where they refer to the iPhone as a “semi-functional giggly brat vanity”.
A man
Yeah, definitely my favorite of the ads so far.
http://blog.tkassembled.com TK
This is amazing. Sells it for me.
ari-free
but android can be for princesses too :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzNFufo9Vhs
John
I lol’ed haha “taped to a scud missle”!
Stephanie
I’m a girlie girl and I love my Droid! Maybe I need to glue some rhinestones to it..? :P
ari-free
there’s a theme for that :)
Enea
bang ! love it
ontheFritz
I like it… But they are certainly using the word “DOES” in just about every part of speech. Have you heard the radio ads?
What will the Passion, uh, do – does?
CJ
I don’t see it as “dude oriented”. The ad simply states that the Droid isn’t some prissy bitch phone.
ahmed
thats the first time ive ever seena n advertisment saying that the phone their advertising isnt beutiful
well i think it is (except that yellow cheap crapy thingy ) at least the gray one is hot )
but i so hate thatd they do show the iphone as a hot trendy phone well even if it is the commercial is supposed to be about the drooid dumbasses
Terran
@CJ, you made me laugh hahaha.
and this ad is by far the best ad yet. im lovin this ad campaign. verizon is kickin ass and chewin bubble gum all over the place
KBlack
Ehh… Is anyone else getting the vibe that they are admitting the phone is ugly? (Which is absolutely false IMO)
ari-free
It’s not ugly. Just not pretty princessy
ari-free
attention game developers: this is the demographic you want.
john
Hi, I need some advice. SHOULD I GET THE DROID, OR SHOULD I GET A SENSE PHONE AND WAIT FOR IT TO GET UPDATED TO 2.1? The SCENES feature in HTC Sense just amazes me, and I cannot imagine having Android without SCENES.
Maj
@john
NO NEED TO SHOUT, WE CAN HEAR YOU CLEARLY. It’s a personal preference, you have tends (if not hundreds) of videos for both devices For me, id pickup Motorola Droid.
anthony
@john
I wouldn’t personally buy an android phone without sense.
Presto117
on my way to class today, i saw super preppy girl with a droid in her hand. it was in a pink case, but still! which shows it’s appealing to both. and i made sure i got a look at the chin, so it was for sure a droid.
A man
@ahmed
Please read the article and watch the video again. Continue doing so until the purpose of this comment becomes clear to you.
@john
I think software would be the last item to factor in when comparing Android to Android. I love the Sense UI but I picked up the Droid over the Eris. Hardware being the biggest reason. Android is flexible enough that I can do anything with it that Sense can do. The scenes feature specifically isn’t a huge deal unless you drastically need to change your phone’s functionality from work to play in a quick manner. Sense’s widgets are the best, however you can buy a few of them off the market and find replacements for the rest there as well.
The biggest question to ask yourself is this: is Sense worth sacrificing a bigger screen, physical control options (keyboard use with emulators, etc), and the extra processing power? If it is worth it to you, then go with Sense all the way. If it’s not then go with the Droid. If you’re still not sure, wait a few more months for the Passion to surface (breath, or anything else to let us know it’s alive!). This is going to come out as a huge wall of text. Fix your comments, Phandroid!
androidnewby
I am what many would term a “girly girl” not princessy…but feminine. LOVE My DROID…I think the phone is sexy, and honestly I like the body style better than the iphone….plus apple has no open development…too bad for them!!! But I have loved all the Droid commercials so far, maybe I am part man haha
Joey Rocks
ROFLMAO! Whatever AD agency they are using must be making Bank, cause this type of gorilla marketing is exactly what the industry needs.
Rob
My wife loves her Droid; of course, she’s a geekgirl who thinks the iPhone is an overpriced fashion accessory.
solid
WHEN DO WE GET THE GSM DROID??????
ari-free
in general, it’s a bad idea to buy hardware based on its custom UI. Devs can always come up with a home replacement that’s even better than the default (they’d be more responsive to their customers than HTC or Sony) and you’d be stuck with a slower phone that won’t work with the latest apps and games. You also have to wait longer for the phone to get the latest OS updates.
Stephen
The iPhone is just the AOL of smartphones anyway. :)
ari-free
famous last words: “so easy to use, no wonder it’s #1!”
ChainReaction
“A phone that trades hair-do for can do”
Awesome tagline! :D
john
@ A man
I really want to wait for a better Sense phone, but my deadline to by a phone is December of this year. I am also a multimedia freak; I cannot tolerate not having a polished music player. Thanks for the advice, yours was the most helpful. No offense to anyone else who tried help my dilemma.
JD
Is it made in Iraq? Why does it have to be taped to a SCUD missile and not a Patriot?????
http://ObamaPacman.com ObamaPacman
It’s funny that the ad fails on many levels.
For example, Verizon actually advertised “pretty” as one of Droid’s features.
Long analysis of the fail.
http://obamapacman.com/2009/12/new-verizon-ad-fail-iphone-beautiful-droid-kludge-which-side-are-they-on/
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