According to a report from
Advertising Age, Palm has mercifully, finally, really parted ways with its ad agency, Modernista -- the house responsible for
some of our
least favorite ads ever. If you need a memory jog, here's them
telling the world that they loved creeping people out with Palm ads. The
AdAge article says that the company is currently in talks with various other ad shops, though there's no clear word on who that new team will be, or when we'll see the fruits of their labor. We don't have much to add to this in commentary except to say that this is probably the second smartest thing Palm has done in a span of seven days -- the first was striking that
amazing deal on Verizon for a super-cheap Palm Pre Plus along with free Mobile Hotspot service. Now, we can look forward to a future where our children won't cower in fear when they see a Palm ad on television, and we can sleep at night without the image of that pale woman burned into our minds. Of course, now that we've seen it, we can never un-see it.
posted April 5th 2010 7:43PM
That was WAY overdue.
Too little, way too late.
Why couldn't Palm have had the commercial with the hot black gal and the shoe store on launch day?
i thought it was a beautiful ad. id rather see a pale woman than a dark woman and this isnt a racist comment. if it is, you are all racist for hating on this pale woman. double standards...
It's not these ads which are killing Palm, its the lack of innovation, its the lack of new hardware, its the lack of EVERYTHING that appeals to today's cell phone buyers.
Let's not forget that Palm is just as culpable in these ads as the agency was; they had to sign off on them and agree to put them on the air.
Palm is destined to go under - when you choose CDMA partners for your hardware overlooking the world standard in GSM you obviously have no clue what you're doing. They should have done everything they could to get their handsets on either T-Mobile or AT&T at launch instead of choosing DOA Sprint. Kind of fitting they did, though, as both companies are done.
@PercyPricksworth
They use that song to sell Cadillacs here in America, lol ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVN9rHhwK3A
They should have gone with Sterling Cooper
Scary looking woman. and the ad looked awful, and didn't inspire me to even look at a Palm pre.
Thought they would have at least took some notes from Apple's ads.
Their new agency better ask for the money up front.
As nice as the Pre/Pre-Plus and WebOS is they need more than this for damage control. Their best option IF they continue on this downward trend is to get bought up by Google and have the niceties of WebOS rolled into Android. Otherwise I fear that Palm will just fade away.
"Breaking news"?
now they can go back to making CLAUS ads. (eye roll) Palm needs new marketing people, not a new agency.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=camMiqtt19I
I love Palm phones. I have been using the phone since they started about. The new Palm Pre is fantastic. I really would like to see Palm getting a bigger share of the market.
Nureet Cohen
No more commercials of that wierd chick!?!?! WHAT AM I GOING TO MASTURBATE TO!?!?!?!?!
If you launch a new OS with your new product like Palm did with the Pre and WebOS then don't bother with human actors at all SHOW US WHAT THE PHONE CAN DO !
Personally I love my Hero and am hooked on Android but WebOS looks very nice, just hate the small screen and tiny keypad on the Pre, I really feel Palm could have stolen a lot of Apple's customers but it's probably too late now.
this isn't going to make a difference. Palm has as much a chance with the public as an out-of-shape glasses-wearing bad-hair-style geek does with a hot chick at a party. Yeah, the geek will treat her right and is probably everything she wants in a guy but she just aint gonna give him the time of day.
WebOS is that geek. Awesome OS, great functionality, runs circles around the iPhone and android but yet fails to score.
the only chance Palm has is a COMPLETE makeover. I'm talking virtual keyboard, htc evo form factor, snapdragon, memory card, etc.
now, to REALLY sweeten the deal, make a dock for that phone that allows a mouse, keyboard and monitor (yeah, kind of like the folio concept) and I think NO one can resist. That's the type of Hail Mary Palm needs.
Investors that shorter Palm are crying.
The 1 year contract for 119 added with free hotspot ability sold me on the Pre Plus. My contract will be up just about the time the good WinMo 7 phones start hitting the market.
Please remember I said this but this is the turn for the best for Palm. I for see a PC tablet coming out form Palm that will change the way PC tablets are built. Just like the iPad .. Palm has the WEBOS and it could be a monster if they would only build a new device in order to utilize as a PC.
Too late... I pray not.
"Creepy"
Engadget, you keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
I don't get all this venom. They're just some odd ads is all. TV is full of them. Some people liked them and some people didn't. What's new about that? I imagine they were supposed to make people talk about the phone, and they did. What's the big deal? A couple of TV commercials killed a company? C'mon people. I feel sorry for the model. She's actually kinda cute, if you don't mind pale types.