Vodafone's BlackBerry Storm art department all soon to be fired

We can't put our finger on it, but there's something vaguely familiar about this new Storm 9500.

In case you're reading this after these images get taken down -- which they inevitably will be -- this was the official marketing material posted tonight by RIM's Storm launch partner, Vodafone.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[Steven M @ Oct 8th 2008 1:50AM]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[lolec @ Oct 8th 2008 2:04AM]

This is so bizarre that I, for once, was ready to (+) a " FIRST! " comment.

[Skor @ Oct 8th 2008 2:57AM]

Couldn't have said it better myself.
HAHAHAHA
I don't see how ANYONE in ANY advertising department would think this was a good idea.

[boolean22 @ Oct 8th 2008 2:56AM]

THIS . . . .

JUST . . . .

CAN'T . . . .

I just can't seem to get a grasp to reality after this.

I mean, they couldn't be such a55 h0les even if they were trained to do so.

[Frankenstein Black @ Oct 8th 2008 3:23AM]

A newjack shows up and demonstrates the STINK of desperation!
Kinda like a Palin stump speech...

[rippinhonda @ Oct 8th 2008 3:27AM]

the browser is even covering the Blackberry logo.



HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA^2

[Adam @ Oct 8th 2008 3:31AM]

Looks like the iPhone killer took off with some property of the victim.

[bakabreath @ Oct 8th 2008 4:16AM]

You keep what you kill...I guess.

[Johan S @ Oct 8th 2008 5:30AM]

I find it hard to believe that something like this could happen. I'd be interested in the story behind it.

[gabe @ Oct 8th 2008 6:35AM]

i lol'd too :)

[billy bob thorton @ Oct 8th 2008 10:03AM]

I think I know what happened here, although there is no excuse as to why it was not check before being posted. I believe someone scaled part of the image without first unlocking other layers or something of that matter.

[billy bob thorton @ Oct 8th 2008 10:07AM]

NEVER MIND. I just saw the OTHER images. This is beyond stupidity.

[Baby-G @ Oct 8th 2008 4:54PM]

Can't you guys see? there telling us that the BlackBerry CAN cut and paste just like there makers!

[Andrew Harrison @ Oct 8th 2008 1:52AM]

Oh god really?

"Why did you leave your old job?"

"Don't ask."

[James @ Oct 9th 2008 3:00PM]

Well i guess this is a better way to get back at your employer than shooting up the place.

[Zorgan @ Oct 8th 2008 5:21AM]

yea, my boss was shmugg! :D

[Technophile @ Oct 8th 2008 1:52AM]

Forgive me... but isn't that browser also based off Webkit?

Is it even skinnable?

[Technophile @ Oct 8th 2008 1:54AM]

nvm, just noticed the "cingular"

[Juaquin @ Oct 8th 2008 3:27AM]

Talk about going over your head. It's the safari browser from the IPHONE on a blackberry - definitely out of place. Unless you're trolling.

[loosely_coupled @ Oct 8th 2008 3:36AM]

Its a screen capture/image of an iPhone display...

[phooky @ Oct 8th 2008 1:52AM]

Haha!

[hipauliee @ Oct 8th 2008 1:53AM]

now that is a prime example of how easy copy/paste is.

[Gilbert Tang @ Oct 8th 2008 2:17AM]

That was a spectacular comment with equally spectacular timing.

[Johan S @ Oct 8th 2008 5:23AM]

Yeah, and now we can be sure that blackberry has copy&paste unlike the product of a certain fruit company.

[EMoShunz @ Oct 8th 2008 8:17AM]

that comment needs to go to a hall of fame page or something...good on ya

[bandigolo @ Oct 8th 2008 10:18AM]

brilliant

[Zak @ Oct 8th 2008 11:11AM]

Johan - Yes, because copy and paste is so much more important than having wifi. OH SNAP, yeah the Storm doesn't have wifi. Please go ahead and try to spin that positively somehow, that will be hilarious to watch.

[Taddy @ Oct 8th 2008 1:14PM]

Well if you have a reliable 3G network who really needs WiFi

[BigDaddyM @ Oct 8th 2008 1:53AM]

I just do not get whay some artist are so stupid... Trust me they know what they are doing, they think this is a funny joke, or the one village idiot that got away.

It is so much easier to just do things right.

Of course, RIM should have provided proper materials and those "stock" images should have never been on the artist's buisness computers...

I would fire them if they worked in my art department,
M

[7on @ Oct 8th 2008 9:13AM]

I envision is that the artist asked for stock images and he just got the one with the screen off and his boss told him to "photoshop" some screens on there. He probably said that he'd need screenshots of the Storm's interface and the guy probably told him to Google it. Pissed off he put iPhone images on there.

Trust me, the artist won't get any reprimand. The person who approved this (e.g. the boss) will get some sort of butt chewing.

[michael @ Oct 8th 2008 1:53AM]

holy shit

[BigDaddyM @ Oct 8th 2008 1:54AM]

I just do not get whay some artist are so stupid... Trust me they know what they are doing, they think this is a funny joke, or the one village idiot that got away.

It is so much easier to just do things right.

Of course, RIM should have provided proper materials and those "stock" images should have never been on the artist's buisness computers...

I would fire them if they worked in my art department,
M

[gad get @ Oct 8th 2008 1:54AM]

iPhone copycat! LOL!

[RANDMC @ Oct 8th 2008 1:54AM]

LOL!!! I want one! iPhone killer!

[Squid7085 @ Oct 8th 2008 1:55AM]

Wow, those are some mighty old screen shots. That Installer icon is ancient, haven't seen it forever, and those Safari pictures have been around since before the iPhone was even out. Looks like somebody did a Google Image search. I can't really seem to understand how somebody could do that, I mean, unless they mistook it for an iPhone, but seriously. Wow.

[James @ Oct 8th 2008 2:38AM]

I could have done a better job in ms paint.

[Flunky Carter @ Oct 8th 2008 2:54AM]

@Striker
Hate to break it to you buddy, but your avatar is pretty flamby too, pouty lips.

[William Briere @ Oct 8th 2008 3:12AM]

Good catch, it's most definitely a placeholder and those pics are probably a joke.

[Striker @ Oct 8th 2008 8:59AM]

@Flunky
I made that in 30 seconds in paint after I responded to him. My avatar used to be David Blaine.

[Josh @ Oct 8th 2008 9:00AM]

You call yourself an Apple fanboy (the Apple logo in your picture) and you never heard of something called jailbreaking? Installer? Cydia?
My God.

[Chi @ Oct 8th 2008 10:29AM]

check out the apple background i made in photoshop in 5 mins!\
http://img386.imageshack.us/my.php?image=applebackgroundgm4.jpg

[Squid7085 @ Oct 8th 2008 12:34PM]

Not sure what I said to get low ranked, that Avatar has been the one I have used for years. I made it in photoshop, all I do is change the picture, which is a picture of me. Works perfectly in Forums, has my online name, a pictur eof me, and a logo of my favorite company, which is what an Avatar is supposed to be. If you don't like it, than maybe you have some self confidence issues that you should talk to somebody about. Low ranking somebody, making fun of them, and then spending time to make your icon look just like mine is something a 5th grader would do. As as far as the jailbreak thing, maybe you should read, I said I hadn't seen it in awhile, I said that because the icon in the picture is the original Installer icon from more than a year ago, they changed it.

[James @ Oct 8th 2008 1:56AM]

Would fire them if it was completely their own fault. Sometimes it's the project manager or the person above them that comes up with bright ideas and the artists need to endure them. "yes sir... right away..."

[Ebel3003 @ Oct 8th 2008 1:58AM]

I take it that is what commenters meant by 'just another iPhone clone'.

[ronald.raygun @ Oct 8th 2008 2:00AM]

ok iphone fanboys are allowed to comment on this ONE post

[Squid7085 @ Oct 8th 2008 2:00AM]

I just went to the Vodafone site and could not find a single link to that page, and after clicking on the link from here, it seems most of the navigation links are broken and the entire page is overall just a template or placeholder. The question is how this page was found, I don't think it was meant for public eyes just yet.

[waiownsyou @ Oct 8th 2008 2:07AM]

You're right. That would explain the non-working Item One, Item Two, etc. buttons on the left. Seems to be a page work-in-progress stub. Also, cocks.

[Millah @ Oct 8th 2008 2:17AM]

Yea dude I noticed that too, this definitely wasn't meant to be seen by the public yet. I wonder how in the heck someone was able to find this, unless someone internally leaked it.

[Steve Childs @ Oct 8th 2008 4:06AM]

Yeah, that can only be an internal leak, someone in the art dept. was probably having a laugh in Photoshop and they've used those images as placeholders.

If you look, the menu title says 'The New Blackberry Thunder', where as the text by the pictures says 'Blackberry Storm'.

[Jakob @ Oct 8th 2008 2:03AM]

No no no no! Apple to storm Vodafone's BlackBerrt Storm art department soon.