All’s fair in love and marketing, it seems. So BlackBerry maker RIM has released a promotional video that literally takes a shot at rival phone manufacturer Apple.
Can't see the video? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com
The short video – which we assume was commissioned by RIM, given the quality - shows a red Braeburn-like …
As has been pointed out elsewhere, the phrase "The World's First Touch Screen Blackberry" doesn't mean a fat lot when:
a) The Blackberry is a smartphone which isn't the world's first touch screen smartphone, and
b) You are the sole manufacturer of Blackberrys, so who else is going to beat you to the punch of building a touch screen Blackberry.
No doubt the Apple-haters will jeer and snigger and make incoherent logic-deficient comments about how this "sticks it" to Apple, but maybe when they sober up and the excitement of watching American Gladiators has faded, they might see the utter lack of substance in this advert.
Whatever you think of the iPhone, it was and is the only phone that was good enough to be marketed by SHOWING HOW IT WORKS. Jesus, you don't even SEE the fucking thing in this ad, much less the desperate sap trying to make the screen 'click' just to type a letter.
I love this. And it's really funny to see the mactards getting wound up. I refer Ian Davies to many other adverts that don't feature the product - take the Cadbury's gorilla advert, which massively increased sales, for example.
Don't get me wrong here, though. I don't like the iPhone (why bother explaining that?) but I also think the Storm is a bag of crap which should have had a lot more production/refining time. Shame, because it could have been a competitor, given how good the Bold is.
Perhaps they should spend less on ads and more on firmware updates to fix the Storms shit system.
As somebody has already said the iPhone has been around ages, they still got it wrong witht he Storm. I used to love (not) the fact that when I answered a call with the Storm I had a 50/50 chance of putting the original call on hold or dialling another party.
I've finally given up waiting for a rival to beat the iPhone 3g so I got one, with all the lock ins blah blah, interface wise I love it. The Storm isn't even close.
I use a Mac and I use a PC, I have an iPhone and I have extensively tested the Storm, the Bold and the 8900 curve.
Why is it somebody always sees a tenuous Mac link and gets in the first "Mactard" blow. the iPhone is a good phone, the Storm is crap. No matter what Computer or OS you use.
Thanks for just reinforcing my argument for me...
#
@Stike Vomit (how apt?)
well, at least my plums are where they're meant to be, instead of between my ears. I'll see your petty personal comment and raise you. Dick.
@Matt Smart
"Mactard"?? What are you, on dope? Who the fuck mentioned the Mac?
Oh, and your analogy to the Cadbury gorilla advert is completely inane. The Cadbury ad in question deals purely in the intangible feel-good benefit of eating their product. No mention is made of their competitors, obliquely or otherwise.
If the ad showed a gorilla shitting on a bar of Galaxy and came with the tagline "The world's first defecating king primate sponsored by Cadbury" then your silly point might have some merit.
How about RIM spending some money on quality control instead of lame ads. Can't get the freaking things to last more than six months. Even our Treos are more reliable.
and I really really love the angry responses to the childish comments.
(The childish comments I'm so so with).
The iPhone despite it's shortcomings (few, and those mostly intangible as far as I can see) is the leader in this market, therefore it is the obvious target, and you do have to admire the bravery, since the Storm is not as good, or at least has not been as well received.
Apple won't retaliate; they don't need to - just look at number of units shipped worldwide.
Pity RIM's "consumer" products are dire. I sincerely hope they don't go the way of Nortel as this would be a blow to Canada and, besides, Mr President of the USA is reliant on their phone.
I believe "lol" about captures my response. Oh yes, and "I rest my case". But you're right, perhaps "Appletards" and "iPhoneTards" would have been more apt.
This Ad was dumb. A blackberry fired at that speed would be "splattered" by hitting an Apple at that speed. The ad makes no sense. No wonder blackberry is desperate against the more powerful Apple device.
It's a well thought out ad, if slightly south of subtle. It gets the point across of what RIM were trying to do when they made the Storm. Sadly, they've made a seriously sub-standard device. It may be technically better (lack of wifi not withstanding), but the UI is an ergonomic nightmare compared to the iPhone. I sometimes miss the functionalty of my previous Nokia N-Series devices, but the sheer ease of using the slick iPhone GUI more than makes up for it. Other companies are a very long way from being able to compete at present, and I struggle to believe they release these touch screen devices, years after the first iPhone, that seem decades behind it. The Storm is barely better to use than my 6 year old iPaq - worse, if you try typing anything long on it and have to put up with that horrible moving screen.
Actually Apple ads often don't display their product either (unless that skinny pencilled-on-moustache guy counts as product)
@Ian Davies - too quiet on the groups for you these days? News stories aren't the best place to last-word your way to Nazi name calling because people move on to the latest story and won't be around to bask in your genius/laugh at your tryhardness/etc...
What would really happen if you tried to shoot a nice, hard apple with a soft, squishy blackberry? I imagine it would have the same impact that the Storm will have on the iPhone.
If their phone works the same as their physics simulation I pity them, the explosion on entry is just bad FX work. Nice idea, but it could be so much better.
those with the crappiest software try to shout with the loudest gloss?
i don't rate the iPhone personally, but that's cos it's too dumb a smartphone.
however, after several years in the mobile industry I left, in part as the phones were simply going out the door before they were ready.
the blackberry ceo's admission that the storm went out the door with bugs and that we should all "get used to it" tells me that my brushes with other blackberry devices, and their shoddy UI formatting, told me what I suspected all along. a) that I was right to turn down a job at RIM, and b) that their devices are cobbled together patched old firmware with new functionality crowbarred and overlaid until the thing is falling apart.
avoid blackberry at all costs. I just resurrected my boss's p990 as he lost the ability to make calls and text without his blackberry crashing! (jesus wept). it may have taken the p990 a year to stabilise but at least it did.
if the companies don't watch out, they'll kill the smartphone stone dead as early adopters stop adopting and wait for end-of-lifecycle to pick up a phone with stable firmware. end point, no more smartphones as they won't sell enough.
solution: sack the accountants and managers who mandate over-optimistic timescales and low budgets.
that said, I do like a nice ad-fight between companies who are trying to grab the stylish high-ground. hysterical!
Maybe the low key Apple response advertisement will show a huge sledgehammer named “Patent Infringement“ smashing that cute little blackberry to the thickness of a molecule. Then the “Mac Guy” will look at the camera and say “We protect our intellectual property. Period.” 310 iPhone Patents will have their day in court.
that neither of these products are really innovative or original. Palm has had a touch screen for years. Sure, only geeks will use them, but that doesn't change the fact. And I really don't think what you touch it with is really a big issue. finger works just as well as a stylus. Also, since I am not 12 I don't use SMS enough where typing with my thumbs is a big selling point.
The video however, is very cool, lets see it on mythbusters ;)
BlackBerry advert sticks it to Apple
All’s fair in love and marketing, it seems. So BlackBerry maker RIM has released a promotional video that literally takes a shot at rival phone manufacturer Apple. Can't see the video? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com The short video – which we assume was commissioned by RIM, given the quality - shows a red Braeburn-like …
This topic is closed for new posts.
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 11:07 GMT
Hywel Thomas
Splendid. #
Whatever I think the truth may be (bought an iPod Touch yesterday, so it's probbly obvious), I think that's a great advert.
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 11:07 GMT
Simon Dyson
nothing can touch it? #
Is "nothing can touch it" really the best tag line for a touchscreen device?
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 11:52 GMT
Ian Davies
And this means what, exactly? #
As has been pointed out elsewhere, the phrase "The World's First Touch Screen Blackberry" doesn't mean a fat lot when:
a) The Blackberry is a smartphone which isn't the world's first touch screen smartphone, and
b) You are the sole manufacturer of Blackberrys, so who else is going to beat you to the punch of building a touch screen Blackberry.
No doubt the Apple-haters will jeer and snigger and make incoherent logic-deficient comments about how this "sticks it" to Apple, but maybe when they sober up and the excitement of watching American Gladiators has faded, they might see the utter lack of substance in this advert.
Whatever you think of the iPhone, it was and is the only phone that was good enough to be marketed by SHOWING HOW IT WORKS. Jesus, you don't even SEE the fucking thing in this ad, much less the desperate sap trying to make the screen 'click' just to type a letter.
Move along, folks... nothing to see here.
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 12:06 GMT
Thomas
Would it be more forgivable if the handset was't substandard? #
I'm inclined to say 'no'. But that may be because I'm older than 12 and, as a result, am not generally very impressed by schoolyard bickering.
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 12:06 GMT
Anonymous Coward
Great ad... *but* #
It's a great ad in its own right but it would be even better if it wasn't for the fact that the Blackberry Storm is shite :p
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 12:16 GMT
Stike Vomit
I want to see a follow-up advert... #
... which features Ian Davies' plums in the place of the Apple.
(Though they'll probably need to use a macro lens for that shot).
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 12:16 GMT
Jason
Groan fruits fighting it out #
Re the tag line, 'nothing can touch it' ad also add 'Or use it !'
For anyone who is human anyway, interface from hell, they had the apple to use as a guide and still messed up....
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 13:05 GMT
Matt Smart
Hehe #
I love this. And it's really funny to see the mactards getting wound up. I refer Ian Davies to many other adverts that don't feature the product - take the Cadbury's gorilla advert, which massively increased sales, for example.
Don't get me wrong here, though. I don't like the iPhone (why bother explaining that?) but I also think the Storm is a bag of crap which should have had a lot more production/refining time. Shame, because it could have been a competitor, given how good the Bold is.
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 13:05 GMT
Anonymous Coward
lol #
Perhaps they should spend less on ads and more on firmware updates to fix the Storms shit system.
As somebody has already said the iPhone has been around ages, they still got it wrong witht he Storm. I used to love (not) the fact that when I answered a call with the Storm I had a 50/50 chance of putting the original call on hold or dialling another party.
I've finally given up waiting for a rival to beat the iPhone 3g so I got one, with all the lock ins blah blah, interface wise I love it. The Storm isn't even close.
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 14:41 GMT
Steve Robertson
Mactards? #
I thought we were talking about phones here?
I use a Mac and I use a PC, I have an iPhone and I have extensively tested the Storm, the Bold and the 8900 curve.
Why is it somebody always sees a tenuous Mac link and gets in the first "Mactard" blow. the iPhone is a good phone, the Storm is crap. No matter what Computer or OS you use.
Jeeezz
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 15:07 GMT
Ian Davies
Thanks for just reinforcing my argument for me... #
@Stike Vomit (how apt?)
well, at least my plums are where they're meant to be, instead of between my ears. I'll see your petty personal comment and raise you. Dick.
@Matt Smart
"Mactard"?? What are you, on dope? Who the fuck mentioned the Mac?
Oh, and your analogy to the Cadbury gorilla advert is completely inane. The Cadbury ad in question deals purely in the intangible feel-good benefit of eating their product. No mention is made of their competitors, obliquely or otherwise.
If the ad showed a gorilla shitting on a bar of Galaxy and came with the tagline "The world's first defecating king primate sponsored by Cadbury" then your silly point might have some merit.
It's clearly amateur hour, so who's next?
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 15:15 GMT
Jerry Masterson
Spending #
How about RIM spending some money on quality control instead of lame ads. Can't get the freaking things to last more than six months. Even our Treos are more reliable.
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 15:48 GMT
John Stirling
I love my Pearl #
I love this add.
and I really really love the angry responses to the childish comments.
(The childish comments I'm so so with).
The iPhone despite it's shortcomings (few, and those mostly intangible as far as I can see) is the leader in this market, therefore it is the obvious target, and you do have to admire the bravery, since the Storm is not as good, or at least has not been as well received.
(disclaimer: I haven't played with either)
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 15:48 GMT
Stike Vomit
Re: Thanks for just reinforcing my argument for me... #
Ian Davies: "It's clearly amateur hour, so who's next?"
You. Apparently.
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 15:48 GMT
Marky W
@Ian Davies #
Ooooo!! Handbag?
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 16:23 GMT
Anonymous Coward
Video #
Nice video edited using Final Cut Pro?
Apple won't retaliate; they don't need to - just look at number of units shipped worldwide.
Pity RIM's "consumer" products are dire. I sincerely hope they don't go the way of Nortel as this would be a blow to Canada and, besides, Mr President of the USA is reliant on their phone.
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 16:23 GMT
Sitaram Chamarty
guava studios? #
...no one caught this?
Don't you guys get guavas in the "first world"? Perhaps not...
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 16:42 GMT
Matt Smart
@Ian Davies #
I believe "lol" about captures my response. Oh yes, and "I rest my case". But you're right, perhaps "Appletards" and "iPhoneTards" would have been more apt.
Posted Friday 27th February 2009 23:07 GMT
Ted
A blackberry would be splattered... #
This Ad was dumb. A blackberry fired at that speed would be "splattered" by hitting an Apple at that speed. The ad makes no sense. No wonder blackberry is desperate against the more powerful Apple device.
Posted Saturday 28th February 2009 11:01 GMT
Daniel Moss
Close, but no banana #
It's a well thought out ad, if slightly south of subtle. It gets the point across of what RIM were trying to do when they made the Storm. Sadly, they've made a seriously sub-standard device. It may be technically better (lack of wifi not withstanding), but the UI is an ergonomic nightmare compared to the iPhone. I sometimes miss the functionalty of my previous Nokia N-Series devices, but the sheer ease of using the slick iPhone GUI more than makes up for it. Other companies are a very long way from being able to compete at present, and I struggle to believe they release these touch screen devices, years after the first iPhone, that seem decades behind it. The Storm is barely better to use than my 6 year old iPaq - worse, if you try typing anything long on it and have to put up with that horrible moving screen.
Posted Saturday 28th February 2009 11:01 GMT
Stike Vomit
Re: A blackberry would be splattered... #
Not if it was frozen first.
Posted Saturday 28th February 2009 11:01 GMT
Randle McDandle
Product #
Actually Apple ads often don't display their product either (unless that skinny pencilled-on-moustache guy counts as product)
@Ian Davies - too quiet on the groups for you these days? News stories aren't the best place to last-word your way to Nazi name calling because people move on to the latest story and won't be around to bask in your genius/laugh at your tryhardness/etc...
Posted Saturday 28th February 2009 11:01 GMT
Anonymous Coward
@Ted #
If you've used a Blackerry Storm, you'll know they are frequently "frozen".
A frozen Blackberry might just penetrate the Apple - however, it's a Pyrrhic victory.
Posted Saturday 28th February 2009 11:01 GMT
Anonymous Coward
The advert makes 100% perfect sense #
All you tards are talking about it, you viral marketing pawns you!
hahaha
Posted Monday 2nd March 2009 10:05 GMT
Matthew Sinclair
LOL #
Nothing can touch it eh?
There right... no one will touch the damn thing... its worthless!
We sell im in the shop here..... waste of time! We hardly sell them as it is.
The iPhone is just too damn good anyway!
Posted Monday 2nd March 2009 10:05 GMT
b3gl
Funny, but... #
What would really happen if you tried to shoot a nice, hard apple with a soft, squishy blackberry? I imagine it would have the same impact that the Storm will have on the iPhone.
Posted Monday 2nd March 2009 10:05 GMT
David Putman
Bad Physics #
If their phone works the same as their physics simulation I pity them, the explosion on entry is just bad FX work. Nice idea, but it could be so much better.
Posted Monday 2nd March 2009 10:05 GMT
gjw
Spot on! #
Especially given the fact that Jesus phone sales are nosediving.
Posted Monday 2nd March 2009 10:05 GMT
Andy Watt
agree strongly: blackberry storm FAIL #
those with the crappiest software try to shout with the loudest gloss?
i don't rate the iPhone personally, but that's cos it's too dumb a smartphone.
however, after several years in the mobile industry I left, in part as the phones were simply going out the door before they were ready.
the blackberry ceo's admission that the storm went out the door with bugs and that we should all "get used to it" tells me that my brushes with other blackberry devices, and their shoddy UI formatting, told me what I suspected all along. a) that I was right to turn down a job at RIM, and b) that their devices are cobbled together patched old firmware with new functionality crowbarred and overlaid until the thing is falling apart.
avoid blackberry at all costs. I just resurrected my boss's p990 as he lost the ability to make calls and text without his blackberry crashing! (jesus wept). it may have taken the p990 a year to stabilise but at least it did.
if the companies don't watch out, they'll kill the smartphone stone dead as early adopters stop adopting and wait for end-of-lifecycle to pick up a phone with stable firmware. end point, no more smartphones as they won't sell enough.
solution: sack the accountants and managers who mandate over-optimistic timescales and low budgets.
that said, I do like a nice ad-fight between companies who are trying to grab the stylish high-ground. hysterical!
Posted Monday 2nd March 2009 10:05 GMT
Joe Ragosta
Frozen #
"If you've used a Blackerry Storm, you'll know they are frequently "frozen".
A frozen Blackberry might just penetrate the Apple - however, it's a Pyrrhic victory."
They're halting Blackberry sales in Japan because they OVERHEAT.
So how would you like your blackberry today? Frozen or flambeed?
Posted Monday 2nd March 2009 10:05 GMT
Anonymous Coward
It’s About the Patents, stupid. #
Maybe the low key Apple response advertisement will show a huge sledgehammer named “Patent Infringement“ smashing that cute little blackberry to the thickness of a molecule. Then the “Mac Guy” will look at the camera and say “We protect our intellectual property. Period.” 310 iPhone Patents will have their day in court.
Posted Monday 2nd March 2009 10:05 GMT
P. Lee
A great concept #
and it was also going so well until they said nothing could touch their touchscreen.
Then I was laughing at them instead of with them.
All publicity is not good publicity, as Paris could tell you.
Posted Monday 2nd March 2009 14:17 GMT
Anonymous Coward
hahaha #
it reminds me the old Commodore vs Apple advertisements!
http://tinyurl.com/6puyso
Posted Monday 2nd March 2009 15:27 GMT
Mike
Has it not occured to anyone #
that neither of these products are really innovative or original. Palm has had a touch screen for years. Sure, only geeks will use them, but that doesn't change the fact. And I really don't think what you touch it with is really a big issue. finger works just as well as a stylus. Also, since I am not 12 I don't use SMS enough where typing with my thumbs is a big selling point.
The video however, is very cool, lets see it on mythbusters ;)
This topic is closed for new posts.