Nokia Lumia 900 ad mocks other smartphones for looking alike
The latest "Beta Test" video ad kicked off by Nokia ridicules how unique other smartphone users feel when everyone is using the same device.
Do you feel you're expressing yourself as an individual because you have the same smartphone as everyone else?
That's the message being promoted in the latest not-so tongue-in-cheek ad created by Nokia and AT&T. Trying to drum up interest in the new Lumia 900 Windows Phone, the two companies are hard at work unleashing a series of ads aimed at deriding the competition.
The latest ad (also seen below) starts off by calling other smartphone users beta testers and proclaiming that all other smartphones look alike. To prove the point, the gentleman portrayed in the ad seems content that his smartphone is the same as everyone else's. But he becomes a bit less content when a nerdy-looking girl runs up to him with the same smartphone in tow, sqwaking as she compares hers with his.
And of course, the usual well-dressed spokesman ends the ad by touting that Nokia designed the 900 because all smartphones don't need to look alike.
The ad is clever. But will it sell the phone?
Mocking other smartphones and by extension other smartphone users is a risky approach. But when battling for share in a market dominated by Apple and Android, Nokia and AT&T do need the big guns, which includes an aggressive and even risky marketing campaign.
The two players have already lampooned the iPhone over last year's antennagate issue. So now they're just expanding their horizons to cover the rest of the industry.
And how has the Lumia 900 been selling so far?
Paul Roth, AT&T's president of retail sales and service, announced last week that sales of the phone had "exceeded expectations," according to AllThingsD.
The Lumia 900 topped Amazon's mobile-phone best sellers list last week. And a scan of AT&T's online store shows the phone out of stock.
We don't know if the phone is out of stock due to hot sales or other reasons. The 900 faced an early challenge as many users ran into data connection problems, prompting Nokia to offer to replace the defective phones with new ones.
As AllThingsD points out, the rush to get replacement phones could have affected existing stock, causing AT&T to run out of supply. But Nokia is citing customer demand as the reason.
In a statement sent to CNET, a Nokia spokesman said that the reaction to the 900 has been very positive, and so some of the retail outlets are sold out. "But we are producing more units as quickly as possible, and new devices are being continually shipped out to fulfill the demand," he added.
Updated 10:35 a.m. PT with response from Nokia.
Nokia's latest Lumia 900 ad