LG Secret viral ad aims for sexy, ends up squarely at creepy

Look, LG, it's all well and good the Secret has a touchscreen and that sweet DivX-capable 5 megapixel camera, but making a viral video that can only be described as early-90s softcore voodoo porn and ends with a sheepish phone call from the dude's mother is probably not the best way to highlight those qualities. Video after the break -- warning, it's just a hair on the NSFW side.

[JoN @ Jun 18th 2008 3:36AM]

thats crazy... i like it

[John @ Jun 18th 2008 8:45AM]

Viral marketing is dead. I wish advertisers would stop milking it like it's the "next best thing." It has already come and gone! These guys are trying too hard.

[OneLove @ Jun 18th 2008 10:32AM]

so lg is for stalkers?

[wjp @ Jun 18th 2008 3:36AM]

Now that is just a bit weird.

[Whatwas Theadfor @ Jun 18th 2008 6:44AM]

Nah, that was a lot weird.

That was a REALLY lot weird.

Weird.

Wow.

Wow.

[Does anyone know what the ad was FOR? I don't. Seems to violate a prime rule of advertising that an ad should leave a smidgen of memory in the viewer's mind about what the ad was trying to sell...lol!]

[Matt @ Jun 18th 2008 10:47AM]

The ad was for the LG Secret. You know...the one mentioned in the title of the post and shown in the commercial. I agree that this ad does little to actually show you what the phone does, but to it's kind of stupid to say you don't know what the ad is for when they say it in the post.

Sorry, not to be overly critical.

[guns @ Jun 18th 2008 3:37AM]

Holy shit that was terrible.

[Will H. @ Jun 18th 2008 4:02AM]

Wow, that was a crap ad. Wow. Whoever made that should be fired.

[Will H. @ Jun 18th 2008 4:03AM]

I mean, not to say that I'm not nursing a semi, the chick was hot, but wow that ad was bad.

[Felix H. Cat @ Jun 18th 2008 5:38AM]

I don't think your manhood was in dispute. Next time, spare us the details and "nurse that semi" in private.

...your comment was even weirder than the ad itself...

[David @ Jun 18th 2008 6:09AM]

semi: second.

[maff @ Jun 18th 2008 9:24AM]

third semi

[dan.foltz @ Jun 18th 2008 3:39AM]

wow..

[pagercam @ Jun 18th 2008 3:39AM]

Target market iPhone loving peeping toms, gunna sell millions!!!!



maybe, stalkers/control freaks/perverts would be more accurate.

[hiphop @ Jun 18th 2008 3:40AM]

Sex sells. I think this one's very creative :)

[J @ Jun 18th 2008 3:40AM]

Awful... Just awful...

[XIYL @ Jun 18th 2008 3:40AM]

Is there a combination of wtf and lol? Cause if there is, thats what I'd use to describe this.

[David Z. @ Jun 18th 2008 4:06AM]

I believe the term you are looking for is "lolwtf?"

[lamlam @ Jun 18th 2008 4:32AM]

i think its just wtf.

the ad wasnt even funny.

[phanbouy @ Jun 18th 2008 3:50AM]

um... i feel like buying something, but i'm not sure what. i think health food and a gym membership so i can mack on girls like that.

but what's with the perv on the window? get him outta my fantasy!

[pagercam @ Jun 18th 2008 3:52AM]

The thing a girl most wants to hear:
"I watched you sleeping" from someone she loves

The thing a girl least wants to hear:
"I watched you sleeping" from anyone else, seem more like the begining to a slasher flick

[Alex P. @ Jun 18th 2008 3:56AM]

The sequel is going to be him taking pictures up girls skirts.

[zbg @ Jun 18th 2008 3:59AM]

And the secret is that she wears panties and a bra under the nightie.

[MH @ Jun 18th 2008 7:29AM]

I think the secret should have been him 'lifting' up her nightie to reveal that she has a dick.

:D

[cubiclegangsta @ Jun 18th 2008 3:59AM]

FAIL.

[XLIV @ Jun 18th 2008 4:10AM]

Seconded.

[duxxyuk @ Jun 18th 2008 8:00AM]

Thrice voted !

[Jeff @ Jun 18th 2008 5:43PM]

wow, XLIV... you're first and only post ever was to "second" a low-ranked lame-ass meme-based comment?

it's almost as if you were CREATED just for that reason! crazy.

[cubiclegangsta @ Jun 18th 2008 9:49PM]

Ah. I see some have taken exception to my very succinct comment here, so allow me to expand on it:

This ad is fucking stupid and FAILS in its attempt to build any interest in the product it shills.

Also @ Jeff: eat a dick.

[Michael LaFramboise @ Jun 18th 2008 4:01AM]

I wonder who at LG thought "hey, I think it'd be a great idea to make an ad for our new phone showing a stalker using it, that ought sell plenty of phones"

[Wonderkid @ Jun 18th 2008 4:06AM]

You bunch of idiots! This column on Engadget now proves that this site is edited in the US where irony and wit are sadly missing. a) I guess you don't get the shear brilliance and humor of the advertisement and then b) you have to actually GIVE AWAY the funny, original and surprise ending - just like those movie trailers that give away the whole plot by showing key scenes in advance. There was nothing creepy at all - he was most likely having a fantasy - and why not? Let's hope they show a shortened version on TV over here in the UK where (I think) we still appreciate such brilliance.

[phanbouy @ Jun 18th 2008 4:54AM]

um. you need to get out more.

[marty.com.au @ Jun 18th 2008 5:26AM]

and the same comment from Australia... :o)

[omegamale @ Jun 18th 2008 5:42AM]

wonderkid... dont be a twat, its great fun to point out those faults with americans, but there are some corners where that is not a valid arguement, engadget is one of them.

i've a pretty sharpened sense of irony and wit, and i thought the advert was dubious to say the least.

the fact that you thought it was "genius" makes you look like a man who spends a lot of time making love to himself.

you act like no-one actually understood the advert.

man takes photo of a neighbour sleeping,

"studies" the photo quite intensely, for a good few minutes... in private...
gets right into "studying" it.

his mum interupts at the vinigar strokes, just as the model is starting to do really weird sh*t with her pout in that way that if a girl continued to do in real life you'd swear she was having a stroke.

its no funny or surprise ending you total arse! what way was it taking you? did you think he was about to cream all over his handset at the end... and were all like "oh genius" when his mum interupts...

dear oh dear... hollywood loves people like you

dont take cheapshots claiming some above average tuning for yourself, you look an arse.

alexp, i totally agree about upskirts!

weirdly... i think if lg did do that, i would respect and love the adverts for being so out of order deliberately, you can just tell this one just thinks its a bit naughty though.

how about an old lady getting crushed under a bus, that would be a decent campaign.

the advert is sh*t, mainly because it is dodgy

[wildstar @ Jun 18th 2008 6:46AM]

You are correct. We Americans are all idiots. Some day I wish I could leave the shackles of American stupidity and bask in the warm inviting glow of UK intelligence. People so intelligent that...........gotta go my mom is calling.

[J @ Jun 18th 2008 7:10AM]

I'm from the UK.

The ad is not clever.

The ad does not illicit tones of irony as humour.


It's just crap. Really, really crap.

[sinjinn @ Jun 18th 2008 10:00AM]

i gotta say . it is a decent ad. it isnt great , it isnt funny , but it is kind of clever with all the phone things etc.
also , i am certain this isnt meant to be shown in the u.s. or europe at all. more likely it is made for the asian markets.

[Mobile Phone Diva @ Jun 18th 2008 2:36PM]

The only problem is the part where he is across the way in another building, snapping photos of a woman whom we aren't sure gave her consent.

I think they should have done that part differently, or just cut the part out where he snapped her picture.

The rest I can live with.

[Znarfaggle @ Jun 18th 2008 4:56PM]

J: it's "elicit". "illicit" means unlawful. "elicit" is evoke, which I believe is what you're aiming for.

Sorry to be grammar nazi, lots of people screw those up and it bugs me. I'm crazy, i know, it's just a word.

[Jeff @ Jun 18th 2008 5:44PM]

Don't worry, Wonderkid. I get your genius ironic sarcasm. clever.

:P

[TareX @ Jun 18th 2008 4:14AM]

Thanks Engadget: You've just contributed to the viral success of this Ad, encouraging similar further productions.

[Microswirl (MKWii:1676- 4270-3674) @ Jun 18th 2008 6:26AM]

Viral marketing doesn't work if it doesn't make anyone want the product, so I wouldn't worry about Engadget spreading the word.

[Eckofish @ Jun 18th 2008 5:08AM]

The ad agency that created this video should be outed. Pathetic attemtp at viral advertising.

[marty.com.au @ Jun 18th 2008 5:28AM]

that last post I mean I agree with Wonderkid.. Where is the bloody edit when you need it! and no doubt this post wont end up under the last one I did either.

[Amirisme @ Jun 18th 2008 5:37AM]

damn

[Brandon Eley @ Jun 18th 2008 6:02AM]

Okay, that video is definitely creepy.

[David @ Jun 18th 2008 6:15AM]

The add is shit,
but the whole 'stroke the image of a girl to make her do stuff' thing could make a great app for young fappers everywhere.

[anabouboula @ Jun 18th 2008 6:21AM]

meh! he didn't tease her clit with a stylus...

[KilgoreTrout @ Jun 18th 2008 6:35AM]

@anabouboula
Yea that could spawn an all new market for special styluses !

[c3pv @ Jun 18th 2008 6:41AM]

Time for dumping some marketing managers!

Holy-crappiest advertisement possible. Gosh.