Rocket Science Does your agency know you're here?

The Cell Phone Popcorn Video – Booooo.

Here we go again… the Cell Phone Popcorn video. No link here, just youtube it. You can’t miss. As you likely know by now, it shows a series of friends making popcorn pop on a table by surrounding it with their cell phones and simultaneously calling the phones. No way. Really? Looks real. Looks indie – done on the spur of the moment by a bunch of friends who told each other to give it a go.

Ever the skeptic, I went straight to the hoax forums, and pulled back the curtain. I figured it was fake, but when I found the source, I was, well, bothered. Like some online Gadfly, it’s just a dumb ol’ stealth ad for a company that schleps Bluetooth headsets. Crap. Drink more Ovaltine. Had it been by a couple of graphics majors for some third-string university film class, I’d have thought – “Gee, that’s cool. Those cats are crazy creative. Sweet. See if they need a job!” But nope. It’s just a dumb ol’ corporate small budget ad. ...And I was having so much fun.

Note to new century advertisers – You don’t have to dupe the market to get attention. You have to spend money. Do something cool and engaging that wins on its own playing field. We all know you want to talk to us. Just do it. Don’t sneak around on our social networking groups, or skulk about in peer to peer networks. Pony up the bucks, make something wicked cool, and put it in the right place.