By Michael Arrington from TechCrunch has somehow gotten ahold of the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Commercial that he says will begin airing in the United States today. I found it funny that Arrington reiterates his rebelious tech blogger image saying, “I’ve uploaded to YouTube without any permission whatsoever”. The commercial features Whoopi Goldberg, Phil Jackson and Jesse James and well… watch it below (Thanks Mike!):
I think its a great “lifestyle” commercial which is exactly how T-Mobile is positioning the phone and the name – MyTouch- goes right along with that. I like the fact that they use celebrities but don’t shove the endorsement down your throat. It gives the impression/idea that celebs are regular people with regular phones/things too… and they’re using the MyTouch.
When you visit the MyTouch Microsite things are a little bit different though. The endorsed quotes seem contrived and forced and I think they detract from the true emotion that the phone is really the celeb’s phone. Here are the quotes they attribute to each of the 3 celebrities:
- Whoopi Goldberg: “Here’s the truth, this myTouch is my touch.” Whoopi’s myTouch 3G is all about gaming (she’s big into vampire games, who knew?), looking for shoes and finding the best hot dogs in town- no matter what town she’s in.
- Jesse James: “I don’t like the way I look without tattoos and I don’t like the way my phone would look without some kind of artwork on it.” You can’t expect a guy who builds custom bikes for a living to have a stock phone.
- Phil Jackson: “myTouch is a miracle tool.” Phil uses his myTouch 3G to stay connected with an entourage befitting a guy who’s almost 7 feet tall: 5 kids, grandkids, players, assistants and the front office. He’s also a gamer and an amateur photographer.
I would be curious to learn how much these celebrity endorsements cost and what other celebrities are in the same price range for a project of this magnitude. Seems like a pretty random selection and I understand that’s partially the point but the collection lacks a certain sizzle if you ask me.
I have another complaint about sizzle too… and its all about the timing. Why didn’t T-Mobile launch this campgain immediately after the phone was announced/launched? With Motorola’s September 10th event scheduled, a lot of people who WOULD have been convinced a month ago will now probably play “wait and see” to hear what Motorola has on tap.
Hopefully Motorola will be announcing the Morrison for T-Mobile in addition to the Sholes for Verizon. But now I’m not so sure they will… Arrington quotes an unsourced person – probably a T-Mobile rep – as saying it will be “the largest product launch advertising campaign in T-Mobile history.” That would seem like odd timing only a couple weeks before a better spec’d phone is poised to be announced for the same carrier… no?
If you watch the 4th video from our MyTouch Launch Event Video Post you’ll hear them discuss the upcoming commercial campaign. Fast forward to about 2 minutes in when VP of Marketing Denny Marie poses the question “Well how are we going to bring this to market” to herself. Keep in mind this was in early July:
Actually, it sounds like from the getgo they didn’t plan on launching this until mid to late August. She notes that initially they would make it available to existing customers, then they would rely on word of mouth and through summer they would count on their value proposition of offering the best service, phones and coverage of all the carriers out there.
And then the bit about the ad campaign:
“But there are some folks seeking devices, not just the best value in wireless, so its important for us to get out there and create awareness around the MyTouch very quickly. Beginning in Mid-August you’ll see us put a great deal of effort behind the 100% You Campaign. Um, I’m not going to share details with you of all of it today, but we will do that over the next weeks as we get closer and closer to the actual advertising launch day. I can assure you however that 100% You is what we’ll be talking about, how it becomes you inside and out, and we’ll be using the opportunity to take some notables and share with you- you might think you understand them and know who they are, but you really discover how they’ve personalized their phones exactly, what their passions are and what’s most important to them.
So it’s going to be an interesting opportunity with television, print and a heavy presence online for people to really come in and discover how some of the people they know and think they know have personlized their myTouch phones. So look forward to that, we’re excited about the marketing but most importantly we’re excited about how we know people will be out there advocating the phone. People who have already experienced it…”
No mention of the largest roll out in the history of the universe or anything, but it certainly provides some insight into this whole campaign. And to think we should have known this over a month ago if we had all just listened a little more closely.
Me included. Android enthusiasts have been commenting on Phandroid for the past month wondering and questioning why T-Mobile wasn’t advertising the myTouch 3G at ALL! Now we know that they never planned on beginning the promotional push until mid-August. Why that is? What strategy is at work there? What they know that we don’t?
Anybodies guess. I just hope the timing of this huge marketing push doesn’t imply that T-Mobile won’t be one of the carriers getting a MotoDroid due for September 10th announcement.
Cool ad! I love Whoopi and even if the quote is a bit contrived indeed, it’s still cool to think of her having a MyTouch :-)
What Vampire games are on the Market?
My search found 1 – http://www.cyrket.com/search?q=vampire
I love my G1, and android, but come on whoopi and phil, two strikes in my book, but to each their own.
I guess I would only be allowed a much smaller entourage since I’m only 5’6″.
All of us T-mobile employee’s got the dumb video in our Exchange Mail this morning, the person who put it up did not get some thing special or ahead of time. Just no one else cared and he was looking for some type of glory, like he released something “Ahead” of time or some sneak peak. The Video and the person who uploaded = EPIC FAIL.
When there’s a video playing for the guy in the middle it’s upside down. Videos play the other way. The screen only rotates one way and it’s not that way. Also, is that not the wallpaper from the LG dare?
cat stevens /yusuf islam music = win for advertising
My search for “Vampire” finds 4 games and a Vampire repellent app (useful for those late night walks in the cemetery I suppose).. It’s good that TMobile is finally running an ad.. maybe the next one will have a little more meat in it, as to functionality.
i have a white mytouch and a lot of my friends ask me, what kind of phone is that and i just think its sooooooooooooooooo ugly telling them “a mytouch”
gosh. why couldnt they name it something else????
I don’t usually respond to this type of stuff.. but please oh please, tell me the phones that these “freinds” have, that in comparison the myTouch is so ugly against ?
I would ask you about the apps you have installed, but it would probably be too much googling for you to fill in the details and continue your fiction.
I KNEW it was him!!! Cat Stevens….WONDERFUL to hear you again!!!!!!!
I think it is pretty funny that Whoopi is doing this commercial…I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard her say (on her show The View) that she does not have a cell phone and will never get one!!!!!!! Yet she will cash in on a cell phone!
Has anyone noticed that they blur out Whoopi Goldbergs finger
nail in the commercial when she slides pages on the phone, wonder why?
Thanks for catching the music – that’s what made me look up at the screen when I saw the ad on TV. It’s a Cat Stevens song that was initially only used for the movie Harold and Maude and was un-released for a long time (not a new recording but the words are great for the point the ad is making). I could care less about the 3 people in the ad but I love Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens – such a talented person.
well, converted from a blackberry perl to a my touch today and love it. Not even thet big of a learning curve. Many strong features and apps are fantastic. Look forward to using the newest features in the furture.
Can ne1 tell me how to get the same wallpaper that Whoopi Goldberg has on her mytouch I love the whole vampire theme
I know what u mean about whoopi! she says all the time she doesn’t like cell phones and will never get one and if u want to talk to her u have to call her at home and she says she doesn’t even have an answering machine so u have to call back! I wonder what else she’s said just for the comic effect instead of for actual fact!
Sounds like Cat Stevens sings the song on this commercial. If so, why would T-Mobile want to be associated with someone who is on the terrost watch-list and last of my knowledge, banned from entering the United States???
T-Mobile WAKE-UP !!!
Love the commercial and hearing Cat Stevens in the commercial is thrilling. Thank you!
what is the app or is that an app that phil jackson has with the rocks??
I really like the commercial, I would have to say I think Pink’s song “do what you do” would be way more COOL and pushes the envelope
they seem to be going for a little bit edgy; but are still saying either be an individual or be cool looking like another individual
Detroit-style Coney Island hot dogs FTW!