Super Bowl XLVIs Best Ads – Samsung Galaxy Note

I’m Team iPhone and always will be, but I have no shame in crossing over to say the Super Bowl ad for the Samsung Galaxy Note was amazing. Created by 72andSunny, the Los Angeles agency set out to make an ad that would grab your attention—and that it did. To do so, they took a mass deviation from Apple’s simplistic advertising, and created and overtly over the top ad for Samsung. The excessive ad can appear obnoxious, but somehow the final product comes out exceptionally well designed.

Initially it makes very little sense how the groups of  consumers are listed as in San Francisco, Boston, and Denver, yet they all end up together in one place. Maybe, when they transported Justin Hawkins of The Darkness and his “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” track from out of 2002 they teleported the three cities together? Ugh, whatever. Either way, when everything is set in the same location you’re given a mass array of excitement circling around the phone. You get Samsung Notes falling from the sky and magically into people’s hands. How no one got injured is beyond me. Then there’s the celebrity cameos of Miranda Kerr (Victoria’s Secret supermodel), Brian Urlacher (Chicago Bears linebacker), and P-Rod (skateboarder). To add to that, BMX ramps are conveniently set up in the middle of a street where moving vehicles are non exsistent. And what could take a semi over the top ad over the top: a person rocket. I knew something was missing! Not to mention all the converted iPhone consumers suddenly know how to use the Note. I won’t even attempt to rationalize it all.

But here’s why the commercial is effective. Even in the pandemonium of everything you are shown the phone and its features. The wide screen, 8 megapixel camera, and S+ advanced smart pen are the main selling points and you get that right off the bat. Another reason is because it takes the well-loved flash mobs and focuses on singing instead of dancing. Flash mobs are slowly transitioning from dance to singing and seeing as 72andSunny has picked up on that, the commercial has a forward thinking appeal to it. Then there’s the song itself. “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” was amazing when it came out and has landed itself on many charts and received recognition from countdown shows by the likes of VH1. The falsetto in Justin’s voice was so memorable and the track was such an exciting song back then that bringing it to the forefront today was like going back to high school—well to the good parts. As crazy as everything is, it works because the totality of the ad signifies the ultimate degree of freedom. There are no rules or restrictions and that’s what the phone is all about.

You know how I feel about it, but tell me what you think: is it an epic hit or a hot mess?

“Samsung Mobile USA – Thing Called Love”

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“Thing Called Love” commercial and image: Samsung Mobile USA YouTube Channel

Virgin America’s Distraction from the In-Flight Woes

If in the last few days you didn’t get your Salmon Like the Fish fix, I apologize. I ran away from LA and went to Chicago for a few days. On my Virgin America flight I was surrounded by whining children and screaming babies that made my eggs and ovaries self destruct. Aside from kids screaming murder in 12B/16F/17A/25A, there is a slight grin across my face as I’m typing away the words that you’re reading (or skimming) on a Google Chromebook by Samsung (right). No I didn’t become a baller to have a this piece of tech to use on the few trips I take in a year. Instead, I’m just lucky enough to be on a Virgin America flight during its cool promotion. Let me explain.

In June, Virgin America announced that it teamed up with Google Inc. to give its guests the ultimate airline experience. In doing so, Virgin America is providing guests with complimentary wi-fi enabled devices better known as the Google Chromebook. From June 30th to September 30th, 2011 select Virgin America gates will house the Chrome Zone lounge (left). Here, travelers can sign up and receive a personal Chromebook to use on their flight. Imagine with me if you will: your sitting on a great flight but next to you is that guy whose drool oddly lands on your shoulder; you can stare at his huck mouth for the rest of the flight or  you can distract yourself by surfing the net on the Chromebook. Um, Chromebook for one please.

To get one from the Chrome Zone, all you have to do is enter some info, slide your credit card (in case you think of running off with it), hold your hands out, grab the Chromebook, and walk away. Easy enough right? The whole ‘yes’ to approving the promotion was to enhance the in flight experience for Virgin America guests. Word of mouth about the airline screams that Virgin is the most unique and customer focused airline that takes flying to the next level. After flying with them, I can support that. But this temporary Chromebook promotion is a great way to get first time Chromebook users to try out the device, but also to give Virgin America guests one more thing to make traveling better. While I can’t make the plane fly faster or let my seat lay back any further, I can use my Chromebook as an inviting distraction. Porter Gale, Vice President of Marketing for Virgin America described the purpose of the promotion by saying,

“Our goal has always been to use the best in technology to reinvent the travel experience – and help bring some fun back to flying.”

Goal achieved.

I’ve never used a Chromebook before, but having this distraction from a kid screaming behind me about why he can’t fly the plane is like anesthia before a root canal. Thank-you God! In just the few moments that I play with it, I can already see many differences between it and a regular laptop. Please know, I’m fully aware that it is not a regular computer so certain features will be MIA. Take for instance, the ‘home’, ‘end’, and ‘pageup/down’ keys. Not a big deal until the minute you want to jump to the top of a page in one click. With some missing keys, there are also a few confusing ones. Certain keys have icons that I’ve never seen which require studying before doing, not always my forte. Until then, these icons make me feel as if I’m reading hieroglyphics. Lastly, the mouse pad requires some learning as well, it’s not the simple ‘left click’ ‘right click’ but a five step read to know exactly how to maneuver. Final issue is that half of the time when I’m on the net I need to write in a document. Yes, there’s Google Docs (wrote this in it), but realistically, it’s just not as easy to use as MS Word. It’s like writing in Notepad…and we know how great that is.

But there is an upside. The breath of air after realizing you can’t swim is I can use the internet when on the plane. The whole purpose of the Chromebook, internet at 10k miles and more above ground, just may outweigh all of its initial drawbacks. Think about it, I’m thousands of feet above ground and I’m on Facebook, AdWeek, Necole Bitchie, and my blog (right). I’m not doing anything important but I am doing it in the clouds and for free. This exclusive deal is available only on Virgin America so if you can try it out, I suggest you do so especially since there’s nothing for you to lose. In under five minutes you can grab the Chromebook from your gate and use it when in air. You get to be online and can fully ignore that whippersnapper screaming his life away next to you. What a sigh of relief, thank you Jesus and thank you Virgin America for the promotion!

Commercials to Watch [Uno]

In the short amount of time that I have after work and before I drool my life to sleep, I squeeze in as much TV as possible. Whether it’s Property Brothers, Hard Ball with Chris Matthews, The Real World, Love & Hip Hop, or The Voice I have to find some connection to reality and “reality”. In between the dramatic breaks of the shows I actually watch the commercials. This week, my favorite commercials were Kraft’s “Officer Dan”, AT&T’s “Dance”, and Samsung’s “Spider”.

I love the commercial that agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky did for Kraft’s. As part of Kraft’s “Noodle Theft” campaign, the “Officer Dan” commercial was a hit in my book from beginning to end, but especially because of the sly smile the boy gives his father at the end. Additionally, the spot has a voice over of by the voice over artists noted “the golden voice”, turned homeless, turned back to voice over artist Ted Williams. “Dance” created by BBDO, New York is hilarious because the actor looked perfect, acted perfect, and the reactions of the other dancers was perfect. Lastly, “Spider” is funny because of all the emotions running throughout the spot. From the woman’s terrified reaction, Dave acting as the hero while hitting the phone repeatedly until he’s short of breath, to the second man that looks clearly upset I cannot pull my eyes away until I find out what the commercial is about. Commercials that I can see myself in are an automatic hit for me because I connect with them. Whether I feel like the child that gets his way by any means necessary (Kraft), the nerd too excited to participate that I’m too impatient to follow directions (AT&T), or the frightened girl who makes a scene in a public place (Samsung) these commercials are one’s to watch every time they come on.

In no particular order…..

Kraft Macaroni & Cheese—“Officer Dan”

AT&T—“Dance”

Samsung Infuse 4G—“Spider”

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Kraft Macaroni & Cheese—“Officer Dan” Video: kraftmacncheese
AT&T—“Dance” Video: shareATT
Samsung Infuse 4G—“Spider” Video: shareATT