Virgin Mobile turns Spitzer scandal into marketing gold

Poor, poor client number 9, Eliot Spitzer. Having suffered a humiliating week in the US press, corporate Canada is now taking its shot at the disgraced New York governor. That's the actual print ad which Virgin Mobile will run in Toronto newspapers this week with the following subtext:

"At Virgin Mobile, you're more than just a number. When you call us we'll treat you like a person, not a client. Whether you're #9 or #900, you'll get hooked up with somebody who'll finally treat you just how you want to be treated."

Let's just see if Spitzer swallows the jab, or comes out fighting this unauthorized use of his image. Full text blow-up after the break.

[Via Textually]

[jeff @ Mar 14th 2008 5:57AM]

if there is one thing that a self-righteous hypocrite, like the soon to be former governor, can't stand, it is being mocked. of course he is going to file a lawsuit! and that is exactly what virgin is counting on. when the us media picks up the story, virgin will get millions and millions of dollars worth of free advertising. i say, BRILLIANT!!!! (i love seeing the media being used like the whores that they are)

[tom @ Mar 14th 2008 8:25AM]

But i was checking the paper yesterday, that chick he is picking up is HOT,real HOT *ruff* ruff*

[OneLove @ Mar 14th 2008 11:05AM]

Real hot? that girl is average looking...and for $5000?

[Kahlil Sapp @ Mar 14th 2008 2:02PM]

Paying for sex is pathetic!!!

[webon @ Mar 14th 2008 12:01PM]

@tom: agreed, he should be condecorated for good taste
@onelove: if youre a girl, youre jealouse, if youre a man you must be gay
@kahlil: you endup paying anyway, proly not so much tho

whats low is that he's married and has daughters, not to mention the friggin governor.

[Kyle @ Mar 14th 2008 12:19PM]

"@onelove: if youre a girl, youre jealouse, if youre a man you must be gay"

I disagree, I am a male, and straight and not going to make any claims like I have even been with a girl as attractive as her. However she really isn't as hot as people are reacting like she is. She is a fairly average looking attractive girl. She certainly isn't attractive enough to ruin a family, and she definitely isn't even $1000 dollars attractive let alone however much money he dumped into her

[CaptCaveman @ Mar 14th 2008 1:16PM]

the girl looks OK, Better looking then my current GF (or my last for that matter).
What I want to know is: what happens to the girl now. I mean everyone knows that she had sex for money. Which last I checked was illegal. The Spitzer is going through the ringer. Lost his job in disgrace, may end up going to jail, and I'm sure there will be tons of money lost on his end.
The only thing I've heard about the girl is that she may be looking into a movie deal.

WTF?!

[paxman @ Mar 16th 2008 6:30AM]

"What I want to know is: what happens to the girl now"

Umm, how about $1 million+ offers from Hustler and Penthouse! For real.

[Mike @ Mar 14th 2008 6:06AM]

Gotta love the hand salute.

[Spike @ Mar 14th 2008 6:07AM]

Nice ad, because thats all Rogers and Bell treats us Canadians as due to no competition, pure absolute crap. I wish Virgin would get their own towers and light a fire up Bell/Rogers ass once and for all.

[Drew @ Mar 14th 2008 6:12AM]

Initiation into the world of media scandals...

Don't Haze me bro!...

[Mitch @ Mar 14th 2008 6:20AM]

This is a comment

[Neebs @ Mar 14th 2008 6:32AM]

I'm making a post here: huge success

[emailtabs @ Mar 14th 2008 6:45AM]

This is a test. This is a test. This is a test of the public broadcast system!

Boom!

[Ted @ Mar 14th 2008 7:26AM]

Nicely done neebs, I swear before I even read your comment I read the original post with the tune of 'Still Alive' so we were on the same page lol

[wrabbit @ Mar 14th 2008 10:26AM]

@Neebs: props for making a portal reference that seemed to go over everyone's head :)

[zzz @ Mar 14th 2008 6:28AM]

I wonder why didn't print it here. Under Sullivan there's no chance in hell he could win. Remember Hustler v. Falwell?

In Canada it might be a different matter though.

[quomen @ Mar 14th 2008 6:31AM]

If you look carefully, he has six fingers.

[Mike @ Mar 14th 2008 10:11AM]

That's not a finger.

[rems @ Mar 14th 2008 6:36AM]

let's see if virgin can take the slap "you'll get hooked up with somebody who'll finally treat you just how you want to be treated" where no corporation has ever been always succesful

[FThorn @ Mar 14th 2008 6:51AM]

That's a little opportunistic and simplistic. Everyone could take every headline and make an ad out of it. It takes real ingenuity to come up with good quality and long-lasting memorable ad campaigns.

[dikkers91 @ Mar 14th 2008 7:18AM]

Wow. That may be the single funniest ad I have ever seen in my life. I think I need to go buy a Virgin Mobile phone now...

[Dante @ Mar 14th 2008 7:18AM]

Classy.

[blinky @ Mar 14th 2008 7:47AM]

Funny ad, but more haste, less speed Virgin when it comes to proof reading.

"...to find out how you can get spend some quality..."

[yonsito @ Mar 14th 2008 9:52AM]

Well, even though client #9 was just a number, he was hooked up with somebody who treated him like he wanted to be treated.

[Matthew @ Mar 14th 2008 8:31AM]

1. 20% of Americans know about the scandal.
2. Out of those 20% who know about it, 5% know what the guy looks like.

[alegria690 @ Mar 14th 2008 9:20AM]

the other 80% (or 95% if thats how you want to count) must live in a hole without cnn msnbc, fox a computer a newspaper r any connection to the outside world because its one of the biggest stories of the week. My girlfriend in Osaka saw it on tv there

[The Guy @ Mar 14th 2008 9:44AM]

Okay, only 20% of Americans MIGHT know about the scandal, BUT, this commercial is for Canadian, we know more about American politics than we do about our own!!

POLITICS AND PROSTITUTION - I'm copyrighting that shit Mark Burnett!! Don't you dare steal that!

[Robert @ Mar 14th 2008 9:10AM]

wow

[sepirioth @ Mar 14th 2008 9:40AM]

Hi, I am client #313 and I endorse this message.

[jmiday @ Mar 14th 2008 10:11AM]

'Spitzer swallows'... I see what you did there.

[Tensor @ Mar 14th 2008 10:41AM]

I dont think people in public office can sue for unauthorized use of his image. They are a Public person after all. And he can't really sue for defamation of character now, can he ?

@mathew: I live in Argentina and this guy's face has been in the news and newspapares. so that 80% must live under a rock

[Eric @ Mar 14th 2008 11:28AM]

Holy smokes, libel suits in Canada are much easier to prove than in the US.

And in the US, this kind of suit is a slam dunk for the aggrieved person. Regardless of the truth of the ad.

Libel law protections do not apply to advertising and marketing as they do for editorial use. Here in the US truth is a defense. But truth is not generally a defense in libel cases in Canada.

Spitzer just might have found a funding source for his early retirement. :-P

Speaking of babes, his wife is dang hot. What a dope.

[webon @ Mar 14th 2008 12:04PM]

the name Virgin goes so well with that ad too

[James @ Mar 14th 2008 1:47PM]

Virgin is just jealous because he got laid and they never have...even if he did have to pay the big bucks for it.

[thedesolate1 @ Mar 14th 2008 4:46PM]

Wait so they are hooking clients up with virgins??? lol Hey I think they should set up a network in the middle east and run that ad in Afghanistan so then those virgin crazy Taliban will stop bombing the telco's for giving free nights and weekends. lol

[AlphaTeam @ Mar 14th 2008 8:50PM]

This is uncalled for.

[Stogie @ Apr 10th 2008 1:22PM]

He was wrong to do that to his family... but who are we to judge... we have all done things... Thank GOD for forgiveness.. and I don't think its funny or cute that they capitilize on someone's pain.. because it isn't just the Govenor that will be humiliated his whole family is hurting and I only hope that Virgin Mobile exec's are squeaky clean because they are the lowest for trying to capitilize on someone elses pain and poor judgement

[StyleSwag @ Mar 20th 2008 1:55PM]

Okay Stogie, you just took the wind out of my sails. Here I am trying to come up with something funny and then I read your comment. You are absolutely right. The family will be hurt (again).

http://www.StyleSwag.com

[zowoco @ Apr 22nd 2008 4:40AM]

Looks like Virgin call all the shots when it comes down to marketing!