An ad from facebook that squeezed an old chestnut one more time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx_GzNlQOxI
There are a few reasons why this isn’t my cup of Lapsang Souchong, but here’s the biggest:
The conceit of having the thing that’s on your mobile phone actually with you is sooooooooooooooooooo fucking old.
Here’s how old: I made an ad with that idea in 2000, and when I was making it we heard that a team from DDB was making a similar ad for a different mobile company.
That was thirteen years ago.
Thirteen.
Thir-fucking-teen.
It was played out before 9/11, before Lord of the Rings, before Jedward.
In all fairness, it has been done brilliantly since:
But it’s also been done really badly, as recently as last week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcLmZMwPoCg
So as far as I’m concerned, it’s time to put this thing to bed.
Or flush it down the toilet.
Or stab it through the heart with a spike made of frozen excrement.
It’s not only over-used and old ad conceit, but to me the fact that Facebook is paying money to showcase all the bad things about its product:
You are wasting too much time with boring things from your “friends” (0:08 & 0:36 & 0:49). You are not paying attention to real life and real people (0:06). You are so scared of missing out, you even check the phone when the flight attendant told you not to (0:44).
not to mention it’s a whole bloody minute long.
i could have been on facebook for ALL that time
@ David O
I always thought the point of working in advertising was being able to separate your personal prejudices about a product from the way that the vast majority of people actually see it and use it.
Actual people like getting updates from friends and family. Actual people think of Facebook as real life and real people – because it is, just delivered in a different way. And yes, actual people use their phones when they’re not strictly supposed to.
Flying in America is so shitty. And Facebook is shit.
I agree with you that it’s as old as the hills, but the majority of FB users would have been 3 years old in 2000.
So this might be the first time they’ve seen this done to death piece of crap.
I’m off to write Smash martians for the FB generation. 😉
Why did they cast a massive bellend in the lead role? They should have gone for someone who makes Facebook users look like nice people instead. Missed a trick there. They’ll be kicking themselves about that one.
This casting of hipster bellends is putting me off a lot of otherwise good American ads. Not that this is otherwise good.
How come the Faceache and HTC spots are so DULL?!?!?!??
@Anonymouse: Hipster bellends are rife is all advertising, both sides of the pond. Vauxhall. Bullmers. I take one look at the cast of these spots and think: “what a self-conscious bunch of pricks. I don’t want to drink cider with them.”*
*But then, I’m 43 years old and probably not target market.
The guy in the Facebook spot isn’t a “bellend”.
He’s a pencil-necked c*nt.