By Some of us can consider ourselves technology nerds. And after watching one of the many Verizon commercials, we usually say: “Oh, I already knew all of this.” But such is not the case for the vast majority of the consumer pool. In fact, these advertisements can be quite confusing to the general consumer, and that is what this recent NBC’s Saturday Night Live parody is emphasizing.
Part of the reason why Apple’s products are so successful is their marketing strategy. Apple’s commercial are simple and to the point, demonstrating some of the cool things that its devices can do. These ads usually display how you can keep in touch with your loved ones, or have fun playing, making the experience much more personal. Many carriers and manufacturers miss the idea that this is what people want – simplicity and closure.
In Verizon’s commercials, topics like 4Gs and geebees are covered. Along with slaying robots and confusing numbers. Sure, SNL takes it a bit far, but they are just demonstrating a point. Check out the video for your weekend dose of humor, and let us know what you think. Do you believe carriers and manufacturers could do better making simpler commercials, much like Apple?
[Via: The Verge]
This had me ROLLING! Lol
I think people don’t seem to realize not everyone wants or needs these top of the line superphones.
Reminds me of some of the older folk that used to come into my work when I was with Best Buy Mobile..
LOL. I love when he pulls out the orange juice and says “THIS is 3G…” LMAO
This so funny because it’s so true. The average American just wants their phone to work.. They don’t care how. Android has always been pushed towards the more tech savvy consumer. However that isn’t the majority of consumers. Apple hS this down to an art, pushing the dumb smartphone.
I disagree for two reasons.
1. Most people have PC’s.
2. Android has 50% of the smartphone user base in the US.
True, however, the vast majority of Android owners don’t realize 1% of what their phone can do, much less which version they’re on. Ask the average person what version of Android they’re running, and you’ll get a blank stare.
That is true. But, the longer they use it, the more they learn. I remember my first smartphone, the HTC Diamond. WinMo was powerful, and frustrating to learn. Once I figured it out, I was set! I love how Android has WinMo functionality, in a prettier, more stable package. I just got my
mom her first smartphone. I let her pick it out. She picked the Rezound. For her uses, it will be great. While, I’m not the biggest fan of Sense, I knew it would be good for her. I was a little worried about having to be her personal tech support rep, but she figured most of it out on her own.
Agreed on the android version, no on the not knowing 1% of what their phone can do.
I liked the Kindle Fire commercial better.. or maybe it was the hot soccer mom, iDon’t know, this just wasn’t all that funny to me maybe because I am tech savvy and like hot woman, so uh, that could be it!
The “commercial” should end with the customer saying “This is all so confusing”, then the salesman says “well, if you can’t keep up with all that, then here is the iPhone. With the iPhone you don’t have to worry about cutting edge technology like 4G LTE. If you want the most stripped down, dumbest smartphone out there, then this iPhone 4S (without 4G) is for you.”
You should probably relax. Just because the iPhone isn’t for you doesn’t mean it’s not a good phone. No LTE means better battery life. And at least on at&t you get HSPA+ speeds.
work for att speedtest every phone with all the demo sims we get…. iphone is barely above the low-end/free phones that support 4g/hspa+ the inspire beat it…. and you may look up reviews that say otherwise but I ran every test myself all sitting in the same chair. “finkle and einhorn finkle and einhorn”….
Which iPhone? Only 4S gets the increased speeds.
4s derp figured that was assumed
Derp? Really dude? I’m sorry your phone sucked but speed tests on the 4S I have now keep up with other H+ phones. Why do you think at&t is marketing that only our network ‘let’s your iPhone surf 3x faster’?
I can’t say derp? I forgot to mention it was a 4s my mistake?
I have been told all h+ phones should be the same-ish give or take. but when I tested them the iphone 4s barely kept it’s head above water.
While I agree that commercials should show off the cool things that these phones actually do, (I’m looking at you DROID/Moto) they must be doing a decent job since they are the largest US carrier. We know it’s not their pricing that has them number one!
In the real world the old guy goes into a VZW store and starts asking questions and the VZW employee gets a blank look on their face and answers “I don’t know , we have phones is all I can tell you , but buy this phone because we need to get rid of these pieces of junk , fast .” ; and the answer to every problem question is “let me sell you something that will not benefit you or fix the problem that you caused not VZW , even though it is VZW fault .” . Wait , that is not funny ! Sad and true , but not funny .
Again I am a VZW customer so I can say this right ?
I’ve been a VZW customer for over a decade, and yes, I agree 100%. Whenever a friend is going to get a smartphone, and I know that they don’t know anything about them, I go with them for the exact reasons you’ve stated – they’re just going to try to shovel whatever crap they need to get rid of with zero consideration for what you need at you, and, as you said, people end up coming home with whatever piece of garbage the store couldn’t sell, or more than what the person really needed.
iphone “dumb” smartphone? u guys do not know what you are talking about…
This was nothing more than Verizon paying for the episode. The only inaccuracy, was the LG Vortex.
What is Saturday Night Lib?
NBC has already removed the video from youtube. Jackalopes.
alternate video is embedded here: http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/12/2793056/saturday-night-live-skewers-verizon-4g-advertising
I’ve always hated the Verizon marketing of the Droid brand. It has nothing to do with the phone and makes it seem like a video game trailer instead of a phone commercial. I never liked their “lightning in a box” ad campaign for their LTE network either.
AT&T’s LTE commercials are pretty funny.
If i see one more overcomplicated machine “forging” the next droid by harnessing the powers of nature collected by some super human being.. <see how fucking ridiculous this comment is getting… this is the brainfuck that happens inside my head every time I see these shitty commercials for even shittier phones.
^yeah what the hell happened there?
tl;dr my comment ended up like a verizon store visit. (and twice as informative!)
Try this, since they took it off Youtube:
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/verizon-ad/1384573
Thanks!
NBC, go ahead and block content. You are irrelevant, so no one cares!
Video is gone
i think this is true for the most part,a lot of times we forget that most people dont research phones the way we do. but i think, when it comes to bad commercials, its a problem that plagues android in general. i wonder how much thought samsung put into that super bowl commercial, and it was slightly above average at best.
no matter how much you might dislike apple, their PR and advertising pretty much blow android out of the water.
And yet you leave your well researched pearls of wisdom, written so succinctly, to us mortals. Your mama must be proud of your innate skill with the English language.
BLADOW!
But if they make simple commercials Apple will sue them, they have simple advertisements patented
and boom goes the dynamite.
also did you notice all the infringements on this and the fact that it was filmed in a store….
this was an add spot for verizon nothing more nothing less. If it was done by snl they would have had huge cardboard cutouts for the phones etc. I don’t think they have an HTC REZOUND sitting in the old prop box
tl:dr fuck verizon