I guess this is one way to sell a product.
I'd like her to cover my need at the price I want! Hi-yo!
Seriously, that's actually an ad. "Here's the pitch: Catherine Zeta-Jones is going to kind of explain that T-Mobile can save you money, but mostly the commercial will be about how this nerdy kid wants to fuck her." Pure gold, I tells ya! Wait, though: it gets worse. Much worse.
"Okay, Tim, you're playing the husband. Can you play this as skeevy as possible? You can? Awesome."
CZJ: "So, let's go online and give you a mobile makeover!"
Wife: "Great."
Husband: "I like it when you say things."
First of all, do people really need Catherine Zeta-Jones to come to their house and help them use the computer? Whatever. I'm guessing it wasn't that hard to drag her back onto the set of another commercial when the premise was "Every man in the world thinks Catherine Zeta-Jones is the hottest thing ever, to the point of being horrible in front of their wives."
CZJ: "Right... so, looks like you'll get great coverage and save money with T-Mobile."
Not at all vague information about the product! Back to the creepy dude.
Husband: "And my wife'll like that."
Wife: "I'm right here."
Husband [not looking at her, still staring at CZJ]: "That's my wife Jen. We're married. Technically."
You're not going to be married much longer, pal.
You know what this kind of reminds me of? The Rachael Ray Dunkin' Donuts ad that was clearly at least as much an ad for Rachael Ray as it was Dunkin' Donuts. Here are the messages I took from these T-Mobile ads, in order of perceived importance:
1. Catherine Zeta-Jones is so, so hot.
2. Catherine Zeta-Jones' hotness turns boys into men and brings men to their knees.
3. When Catherine Zeta-Jones is in the room, your wife all but ceases to exist.
4. Catherine Zeta-Jones' breasts could bring about world peace.
5. T-Mobile can maybe save you money, somehow.
Never ceases to amaze me how advertisers will sacrifice product messaging for lazy humor almost every time. You know what? I don't watch television commercials to laugh, and I don't watch them to see hot women -- that's what TV shows are for. Commercials should be about information, and these ads have almost none of that.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anybody ever lost money trying to use sex to sell a product. But these commercials are just way too obvious about it. And they are creepy. I haven't seen these commercials on the air yet, but I think I'd have a hard time remembering the product afterward.
ReplyDeleteDon Draper would never have greenlighted this crap
ReplyDeleteWhat if the roles were reversed? Imagine the outrage if a young girl was trying to seduce Morgan Freeman. And any kid that uses Kenny G's "Songbird" to get laid is obviously troubled beyond repair.
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