Comments on: Palm Debuts New Commercial for the Pre

Palm Pre CommercialPalm Inc. has posted a new commercial for the Palm Pre. Available for viewing on Palm's Facebook page, the ad is the first official television commercial for the new device. Per Palm's blog:

The ad features an imaginative interpretation of several unique Pre features, such as Synergy and multitasking. Directed by acclaimed commercial and feature film director Tarsem, the cast includes over 1,000 martial arts performers orchestrated by Sun Yupeng, who previously choreographed the opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics.

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Signal reception?

jca666us @ 6/4/2009 4:32:22 AM # Q
So, she climbed up on that rock in order to get better signal reception from Sprint??

LOL!

RE: Signal reception?
pmjoe @ 6/4/2009 6:07:26 AM # Q
Yeah. I'm the type of person this type of ad should connect with, and the first thing I thought of was me, out in the woods, standing on a rock, trying to get reception.

Been there, done that.

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Hm,

Gazpacho @ 6/4/2009 5:04:40 AM # Q
Do they have CDMA in China? ;)
http://foleocentral.blogspot.com

FoleoCentral is the news, opinions & review blog about the Palm Foleo Mobile Companion
RE: Hm,
rmhurdman @ 6/4/2009 6:36:02 AM # Q
Is the Pre even coming to China? Do Americans want to buy Made-in-China stuff right now?

And why would Palm spend a large advertising budget on this? Don't they need to conserve their resources, given that they can only afford to produce a few phones for the official launch?

RE: Hm,
LiveFaith @ 6/4/2009 12:17:53 PM # Q
Yeah, advertising is a terrible way for a company to spend money. Just imagine how much they could keep in cash w/out informing people about their products. Good one. ; - )
Pat Horne
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It was visually creative...

bhartman34 @ 6/4/2009 5:49:26 AM # Q
...but content-poor.

It's the kind of commercial Lewis Black once described: "You don't even know what they're selling, until the very end. Three rabbits are on a log, and one of them goes home and hangs himself. Buy a bike!"

Okay, so maybe it wasn't that bad, but seriously, how do they expect to sell the Pre without highlighting its features? Why do ad agencies (let alone companies themselves) continue to think that that kind of nonsense works?

Here's the thing: If people can't remember what you're selling by the end of the commercial (or worse, don't care), they won't buy.

RE: It was visually creative...
SeldomVisitor @ 6/4/2009 6:17:55 AM # Q
> ...If people can't remember what you're selling by the end of the
> commercial (or worse, don't care), they won't buy.

Or perhaps 15 seconds AFTER the commercial. Agreed.

Does look like they're aiming at the female population with this "ad". Does anyone know if the "ad" has actually appeared on TV< though?

Putting it on a Facebook page means only those who visit that facebook page are going to be seeing this in quantity...fanboys only.

RE: It was visually creative...
pmjoe @ 6/4/2009 6:27:06 AM # Q
I liked the concept. I could've done more with the same resources, which only speaks to how poorly it was choreographed. If you watch the making of video that follows, they make some comment about circles representing multitasking, or something like that? Like huh? First off, 99% of people don't know what multitasking is on a computer, if they did, they don't care that much, AND nothing in the choreography gave me the impression of multitasking anyhow.

Would've been much better if they'd morphed between common Internet icons: e-mail, web, phone, etc. then end with the Palm logo. Plus there's a huge disconnect between the girl in the center and everyone else, which does not imply synergy to me, I'm sure I could come up with a fix for that too.

Furthermore, it was even more of a turn-off that Palm went to China and hired hundreds of people (from a Chinese military school?) to make this. I was originally speculating CGI, which was a downer enough, this was worse.

That said, it's not bad, it's just not great. They could've done much better.

RE: It was visually creative...
CFreymarc @ 6/4/2009 2:00:35 PM # Q
I seeing that metaphore of a bunch of underpaid Chinese who can't vote surrounding and doing the bidding of an obvious westerner being treated like royality? While I'm not usually into the social justice scene, this commercial totally flaunts class abuse.
RE: It was visually creative...
bhartman34 @ 6/4/2009 3:44:32 PM # Q
CFreymarc wrote:
I seeing that metaphore of a bunch of underpaid Chinese who can't vote surrounding and doing the bidding of an obvious westerner being treated like royality? While I'm not usually into the social justice scene, this commercial totally flaunts class abuse.

I generally frown upon any attempt to give the Chinese money (since the money ultimately supports the government). Having said that, I don't think this was about the monks "doing the bidding" of a westerner. One of the problems I had with the ad, in fact, was the fact that the movements of the monks seemed completely unrelated to the phone itself. (Here's a little hint to the people at Palm: If you have to post a paragraph explaining the ad, it's not a good ad.)

As I said, I don't think it sucked. I was just surprised that they'd go with such an ambiguous ad (in terms of what the Pre can do, I mean), rather than go for the jugular with some of the innovative things the phone can actually do, like multitasking, integrating different contact lists, etc. In fact, they already have videos up on the Palm site. Any one of these would've done a better job highlighting the features of the phone than that 7 seconds of camera time they gave the Pre.

http://www.palm.com/us/products/phones/pre/index.html#video

RE: It was visually creative...
Jayy @ 6/5/2009 8:07:03 AM # Q
That's why nobody should buy from the Americans as the money finances the self-proclaim Leader of the World, The Great War Machine... But I am very tempted to buy this Palm Pre...
RE: It was visually creative...
Jayy @ 6/5/2009 8:14:11 AM # Q
And the Chinese are not underpaid... it's just that the Americans are over-paid, therefore over-consuming and leading to externalities that affect poor developing countries... I want my Pre even if it means wasteful consumption!!
RE: It was visually creative...
BaalthazaaR @ 6/5/2009 10:50:16 AM # Q
Jayy wrote:
And the Chinese are not underpaid... it's just that the Americans are over-paid, therefore over-consuming and leading to externalities that affect poor developing countries... I want my Pre even if it means wasteful consumption!!

Congrats Comrade, you have finally passed the indoctrination test. Enough said.

RE: It was visually creative...
twrock @ 6/5/2009 4:36:14 PM # Q
Jayy wrote:
I want my Pre even if it means wasteful consumption!!

Ok, so at least there was that moment of honesty in there. :-)


Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

RE: It was visually creative...
Jayy @ 6/5/2009 5:14:03 PM # M Q
"Congrats Comrade, you have finally passed the indoctrination test. Enough said."

No dude, you have! But you don't know it or even for one little tinniest bit suspect it! Just keep watching your TV and your so called news media...

RE: It was visually creative...
Jayy @ 6/5/2009 5:44:14 PM # Q
Twock said, "Ok, so at least there was that moment of honesty in there. :-)"

Sorry for not keeping to topic. Twock, I am not trying to diss the American, I am just sick of all the China/Chinese bashing by people who are so very ignorant. I am merely showing counter arguments to some perspectives. I know most PIC readers are American and intelligent enough (based on their posts and comments (no sarcasm intended :))) to know that the pervailing view of the media of China or other cultures are not necessarily truthful... And yes, it is wasteful consumption, that I keep buying every single Palm that comes out hoping that that would be THE PERFECT PDA PHONE!! Actually, I've just given up my Android G1 and moved back to my 680... wow, it's soooooooo much better in terms of usuability!!!

RE: It was visually creative...
twrock @ 6/5/2009 6:33:27 PM # Q
Jayy, no problem. Really. This forum is pretty wide open when it come to topics for discussion.

I am an American, but I really love to poke fun at my own culture. I find it amazing just how much lack of self-awareness there is in people who have never had the privilege of living for a significant amount of time outside of their own culture. Americans are not necessarily the worst in this regard, but they certainly aren't any better than others as seeing their own cultural flaws. A good dose of humility all around is very needed. (And obviously I need that too.)

On the other topic, what were your biggest frustration with the G1? I've been looking very carefully at Android's development. I don't think I would be satisfied with the current state of the Android system (hardware and software), but I keep hoping it becomes what I want. I really am trying to make a shift away from closed systems to open ones, and Android at least fits with the philosophy of what I want in a phone system.

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?

RE: It was visually creative...
Jayy @ 6/5/2009 9:46:13 PM # Q
Twrock, the G1 was ok for awhile but once the swish, swash and snap wore off, it's just a phone with lots of alpha, beta ware... Palm on the other hand has lots of well-developed programs which are highly usuable for everyday usage. I toyed with WM, S60 also but none of them come close to Palm (in both hardware and software) when it comes to convergence and simplicity (which is often under-rated and us Palm users sometimes take for granted). The credit to Palm is not meant for Palm OS itself tho but to the (ex) Palm development community. It's true that Android may one day become highly usable but that's the waiting game again... So now, I am just happy with the 680...

RE: It was visually creative...
twrock @ 6/5/2009 10:50:31 PM # Q
I hear you on that one. It's amazing just how simply useful my TX still is compared to all the new stuff out there. I'm starting to believe that if Palm had just released a phone with the TX form factor, I'd be sitting here very satisfied for a very long time. (Well, maybe not satisfied with the browser, but you can't have everything.) As it is, so much of the newer stuff seems nothing more than a means by which the carriers can more effectively get more of your money.

Hey Palm! Where's my PDA with Wifi and phone capabilities?
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It's about connecting to people

bcombee @ 6/4/2009 7:10:56 AM # Q
The whole idea behind Synergy and the communication-centric Pre is you're connecting with people. I really love the way the dancers morphed between states, expressing the connection she has with her large social group and how she's parts of lots of different groups.

We're past the "Apple has to explain what a smartphone is" ad stage... this is about emotion and getting awareness that there's something new out there. The Pre is shown, it's clearly a phone, but it's a phone with a "run my life" vibe rather than the iPhone's "it's my cool let-me-feel-superior toolkit". This seems to fit well with Palm's stated interest in going after the crowd in the middle.

RE: It's about connecting to people
jca666us @ 6/4/2009 7:54:47 AM # M Q
I think they should have made a commercial in the style of:

"I'm an iPhone"

"I'm a Pre"

Seriously, I thought this commercial was ok - but apple's ads are more effective by showing actual apps. running.

RE: It's about connecting to people
bhartman34 @ 6/4/2009 11:15:12 AM # Q
jca666us wrote:
Seriously, I thought this commercial was ok - but apple's ads are more effective by showing actual apps. running.

I basically agree with that. Maybe my initial impression was too harsh, but it came across to me like a Calvin Klein fragrance ad.

Incidentally, I know that the use of the word "ad" in relation to the video on Facebook is a little bit of a misnomer, since this video isn't really advertising. (It's just a fan video, because of its venue right now.) Having said that, I do expect them to run something similar on TV, when/if the phone starts to take off after Saturday. It makes sense that their initial production would be Web-only, since it's the techie crowd that will be initially attracted to the phone, and it's probably cheaper than a TV campaign. But sooner or later, they've got to step up and do some TV. The nature of Facebook is that people that don't already know you probably won't get to know you.

RE: It's about connecting to people
pmjoe @ 6/4/2009 3:19:43 PM # Q
bcombee wrote:
The whole idea behind Synergy and the communication-centric Pre is you're connecting with people. I really love the way the dancers morphed between states, expressing the connection she has with her large social group and how she's parts of lots of different groups.

Sorry, but the whole social connection was lost in that ad, IMHO. Sure, there are a whole lot of people dancing in a synchronized way *around* her, but it was not at all obvious that she was connected to any of them. As a post above put it, it could just as easily be about "a bunch of underpaid Chinese who can't vote surrounding and doing the bidding of an obvious westerner being treated like royalty".
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ringtones

kristenmarie @ 6/10/2009 9:46:05 PM # Q
is there anyway i can get ringtones on my palm centro without having the internet or bein able to get picture mail?
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Subsequent Ads

GamerChica @ 7/30/2009 1:54:12 AM # Q
There's a lot of back and forth on the main ad, understandable given how it stands out. But personally the follow up Ads stand out more for me in how terrible they are. Is it just me or do they come off as a bit pretentious?
RE: Subsequent Ads
jca666us @ 7/30/2009 2:05:24 AM # Q
Not just you.

Surprising, when you consider that ads are supposed to connect with people - not repel them.

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New Palm Commerical?? Nooooo!!! This would be better:

Hollywoodcruzcontrol @ 8/12/2009 4:58:21 PM # Q
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