HTC mocks Apple's '1984' ad (really)
Technically Incorrect: In doing something that's been done before, HTC thinks it can be, um, different.
Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.
Yes, but will you be proud?
It's not easy to have fresh ideas.
It's slightly simpler to do something that's been done before -- and that's sometimes worked.
However, is it wise to do something that's been done before and hasn't worked?
HTC believes that the way to enter into real people's hearts is to create a pastiche of Apple's legendary "1984" ad and do it with all the aplomb of a coal miner practicing macrame with a pickax.
HTC's new ad for its One A9 phone attempts to prove that buying the phone is the way to be different.
It's an expression of rebellion. Well, if your version of rebellion is to run along a perfectly white dining table and smash a few things, while the dining mannequins stare straight ahead and look at you not at all.
It's hard to imagine how this ad was conceived and thought inspiring. Or even different.
Motorola tried to launch a tablet during the 2011 Super Bowl "="" shortcode="link" asset-type="article" uuid="720a8728-8c86-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d" slug="super-bowl-the-tech-winners-and-losers" link-text="with a mockery of the " section="news" title="Super Bowl: The tech winners and losers" edition="us" data-key="link_bulk_key"> " spot. At least it was decently shot, even if it disappeared quickly into the ether of indifference.
You know that this HTC ad isn't exactly inspirational, or even made with confidence, because it has titles running through it that tell you how to feel: BE DIFFERENT. BE LOUD.
May I speak loudly and say this ad isn't different but merely a touch vacuous? HTC has made some excellent phones, but it's struggled to find a brand image that touches people the way they like to be touched.
It's tried stars like Robert Downey Jr. It's tried Gary Oldman. It even tried mocking Apple in April, with an ad that suggested the company's iOS software for the iPhone is an illness. Why this now? HTC didn't respond to a request for comment.
It may well be that Apple is a touch Big Brotherish these days. But if you're going to mock that, create something memorable, something that people can get behind, something that unhappy citizens will talk about and pass along to their fellow rebels.
Even a Che Guevara testimonial might have had more impact than this.