"A robot is a thing that does..." Verizon / Google / Motorola are taking their ad onslaught to new heights and in a new direction, with three new ads (which will hit "soon," according to our tipster), two of which actually show off Android functionality. It's a bold new vision for a hyperbole-filled, guytastic campaign which shows no sign of letting up, and seems more than anything to be the complete antithesis to Palm's coma-inducing spots instead of an antidote for Apple's everyhipster sensibilities. Check out the three new DROID ads after the break.

[Thanks, DroidDoesItAll]

AT&T might be suing Verizon for misrepresenting its network in ads, but that doesn't seem to have dissuaded Big Red from using that same map image in this new spot, which casts the iPhone away to the Island of Misfit Toys. Hard to argue with the premise, but here's the real question: why not just sack up use a real iPhone, instead of this KIRF piece? Check the ad after the break.

Update: Two more ads after the break -- "Blue Christmas" and "Elves." In case you were wondering, it's a sunny 70 degrees in early November in New York and Chicago, which is just about perfect for Christmas ads.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

It's not quite a $99 Xbox 360, but if this apparent Walmart scan via Kotaku is to be believed, that $199 Arcade version is getting a $100 gift card promotion going into effect this Saturday. In real terms, that boils down to a $234 Xbox 360 Pro for first-time buyers, seeing as you'll be needing that $135, 120GB hard drive, too. Also listed are a Sony Blu-ray player for $148 (we're guessing the currently-MSRP'd $199 BDP-S360), and a $298 HP G60-519WM, which touts a 2.2GHz Intel Celeron, 15.6-inch HD display, Windows 7 Home Premium, 3GB RAM, and a 250GB HDD -- not a bad followup at all for that Compaq CQ60. Some interesting spy shots from the Slick Deals forum seem to give credence to the scan, although we're still playing wait-and-see -- that $100 gift card with the Xbox 360 arcade is almost too good to be true, even if it is just a clever tactic to clear shelf space in the lead-up to Black Friday.

Update: Sure as the sun, an official ad has popped up on Yahoo's front page. Screenshot after the break.

[Thanks, just4onepost]

Read - G60-519WM spotted
Read - $199 Xbox 360 Arcade with $100 gift card?

Looks like those iDon't ads aren't all Verizon has in store to promote the DROID: this new spot, called "Stealth," just leaked to BGR. Again, we can't help but notice that Big Red's taking a nerdier sci-fi approach to things with these ads, but that seems to suit the DROID, if you ask us. Video after the break.

Whoa -- we just got word that AT&T is suing Verizon for false advertising over Big Red's "There's a map for that" ads. We're reading the complaint and motion to stop the ads right now, but here's what AT&T says is the big problem:

In essence, we believe the ads mislead consumers into believing that AT&T doesn't offer ANY wireless service in the vast majority of the country. In fact, AT&T's wireless network blankets the US, reaching approximately 296M people. Additionally, our 3G service is available in over 9,600 cities and towns. Verizon's misleading advertising tactics appear to be a response to AT&T's strong leadership in smartphones. We have twice the number of smartphone customers... and we've beaten them two quarters in a row on net post-paid subscribers. We also had lower churn -- a sign that customers are quite happy with the service they receive.

AT&T also says its network reaches about the same number of people as Verizon's, so we're thinking it's a little miffed that it's being portrayed as an also-ran here. We'll update as we learn more, keep it locked!

Update: So this seems like a very narrow lawsuit, actually. As we've been told, AT&T thinks Verizon is trying to fool viewers into thinking that they can't use any AT&T phone services outside of 3G coverage areas by showing two essentially different maps. Since Verizon's entire network is 3G, the gaps in the red map are actual service gaps -- but Verizon doesn't show that the gaps on the AT&T map might be covered by AT&T's huge 2G network. We can see how that could be misleading, but at some point you've got to compare apples to apples, and AT&T even says it has "no quarrel with Verizon advertising its larger 3G network" in its complaint, so we'll see how the court reacts.

Update 2: Interestingly, Verizon's already changed the ads once at AT&T's behest, editing them to remove the phrase "out of touch" and adding a "Voice and data services available outside of 3G areas" small print disclaimer at the end. Apparently that wasn't enough for AT&T, which says the ads still confuse non-technical viewers into thinking AT&T provides no service at all outside of its 3G coverage.

Update 3: Okay, we've read everything -- there's really not much more to this suit than the arguments over the maps. We're thinking Verizon could have easily dealt with this by just using dark blue and light blue on the AT&T map to differentiate between 3G and 2G coverage, but at this point we don't think Ma Bell is all that interested in anything except getting these ads off the air. All that said, it's hard to deny that Verizon's ads made a perfectly valid point: using an iPhone on AT&T's network in New York or San Francisco is an exercise in frustration, regardless of whether you have 2G or 3G, and we've had zero problems on Verizon. Let's just hope AT&T is working as hard to fight these ads with its actual service as it is with its lawyers.

Given the timing of Storm 2's launch and the Motorola DROID's unveiling, you'd think Verizon had all but abandoned its touchscreen BlackBerry. But lo and behold, we do have a new television spot. "Who says lightning never strikes twice" -- who said it ever struck the first time? Video after the break.

[Via Gear Diary]

Face? Meet palm. Microsoft's decided to pull out of its co-sponsoring of "Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show" after execs attending the taping came to the sudden conclusion that Family Guy-caliber jokes were to be told, tackling such topics as "deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest." We're not sure how 10 years and over 120 episodes of offensive precedence bypassed Redmond's radars, but man, that's gotta be some strong personal bubble. A Microsoft representative said of the taping, "it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand." The show will still air November 8th, pre-recorded Microsoft references in tow, but with a new as-of-yet unnamed sponsor. All we have of the now-doomed partnership is this brief video from the Windows "741" student site -- it's after the break.

[Via The Raw Feed]

Can't argue with a wig like that, right? Video after the break.

Update: Two more added. Are these still fun?

Because television and the internet can't be the only media feeling the touch of the Droid's marketing blitz, it looks like promotional mailers are being sent out. No new details or screenshots, but you can't get enough of Motorola / Verizon's Android device anyway, can you? A few more pics past the read link.

Windows fans expecting Apple to let Microsoft have its moment in the sun next week when Windows 7 launches should probably know better by now -- the Mac maker is actually planning a marketing counter-offensive to hit alongside 7's debut. According to Phil Schiller, the convoluted upgrade path from Windows XP to Windows 7 represents a big opportunity for Apple, since users have to back everything up and reformat. "Any user that reads all those steps is probably going to freak out. If you have to go through all that, why not just buy a Mac?" Well -- we're sure most of you can think of several reasons. Of course, Microsoft has long said that most people will actually get Windows 7 when they purchase a new machine, which is one reason we're seeing such an absolute flood of interesting and innovative new PC hardware -- but Phil seems to remember that was also the company line about Vista, and homeboy isn't backing down. "We've been through these transitions before, and no matter how you look at it-it's still Windows." Harsh burn, amigo. Any last predictions? "I expect Snow Leopard will have an amazing upgrade rate, and Windows 7 won't." We thought you might say something like that. Good thing we're giving Steve Ballmer a chance to respond live on the air next week, no?

[Via AppleInsider]

Of all Microsoft's advertising moves, this certainly falls in more clever side of the spectrum. Redmond et al. have announced they'll be "sponsoring" a November 8th variety special on Fox, "Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show." The episode'll be a mix of live-action musical performance and animated shorts with the usual celebrity cameos you've come to expect. This show will be commercial free, so long as you don't count all the Windows 7 that'll somehow be integrated -- and that's the most interesting mystery of all, how Microsoft will get its brand recognition without too many jabs from showrunner Seth McFarlane and company. If you don't recall the last time McFarlane teamed up with a big company to enliven its image, check out video from "Burger King presents Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy," a venture also done in tandem with one of the ad agencies responsible for this new deal, Crispin, Porter & Bogusky. It's just after the break.

Update: As commenter Zebb reminded us, Bill Gates pulled off a cameo in Frasier "answering caller questions" about Windows XP. We couldn't help but add it to the post just below, jump to the 2:20 mark for the relevant scene.

Okay, so we understand Microsoft is trying hard to rebrand Windows Mobile as Windows Phone with the launch of WinMo 6.5, but this commercial -- labeled with AT&T logos in the US but also running unlabeled worldwide -- doesn't seem to do a good job of pointing out that Windows Phone is a platform and not a device. In fact, if we didn't know better, we'd think that the HTC Pure is, in fact, the "Windows Phone" -- even though the dude in the spot is holding a totally different generic device. See how that could be weird for people? It's almost confusing enough to distract from the jubilant anthropomorphic app icons in tights. Video after the break.

We can't say this was unexpected, but Sony just pinged us to say that that Nazi PS3 ad is "totally fake" and was made without their approval -- here's the statement from the executive president of BBDO Chile, which made the ads:

This creative design did not involve and was never approved by Sony Computer Entertainment or Sony. This "mock campaign" was developed by BBDO Chile staff and was submitted to various creative competitions/festivals without prior notification or approval from SCE/Sony, and it is not representative of the views or advertising policies of SCE/Sony. BBDO Chile apologizes for using this creative concept without authorization or prior approval, and for its misrepresentation of the PlayStation brand and its values.

Settles that, we suppose -- although we're guessing BBDO Chile isn't going to be Sony's agency of record very much longer.