Way back at the beginning of June we saw the first Palm Pre ad, aka "Flow". We've been hearing for a week that a follow up ad was out and today, via JimmieGeddes in our forums, we have a decent quality version of it.
Whereas "Flow" had a bit (ok, a lot) of flash to it, this new one is decidedly more low-key. The music and background are calm and serene, but to me the tone and expression is way too quiet and almost makes me sleepy. Unfortunately, this ad does as much featuring of the Pre and its revolutionary OS as it does subliminally promoting Microsoft's new new search engine, Bing. (Oops).
Here's hoping the next commercial ramps things up a bit, because when I think of the Pre, I think of it as modern, flashy, and functional, not quiet and calm. Personally, my favorite is still the Sprint Pre Facebook ad.
Thanks to everybody who gave us a heads-up on the ad!
Comments
Comment number one.
^^^ retard number one
At least it's not as stupid as that Chase Bank commercial where this woman is rock climbing in the middle of nowhere and she receives a call on her cell that her checking balance is low.
I saw one similar to this, however the girl is talking about someone juggling and the more balls they get, the easier it seems as she's flicking through all her open content.
Yeah I've seen that one too. Seems like palm is running a serial commercial to tell us everything about the pre.
The first part introduces the pre and tells us that this phone will help us keep track of all the ever-changing aspects of our lives.
Part 2 tells us that it helps us easily navigate through our lives.
part 3 tells us that it helps us do many things at once.
this is a dumb commercial i saw it last night it took me till the "END" of the commercial to know she was talking about the phone that was sitting right my hand lol...
and not to mention its super WEIRD!!! wtf????
come on palm lets embrace the WORD COMMERCIAL usually when sumthin goes commercial it means its APPEALING TO A LARGE CROWD!!!
i agree i like the first one alot more!!!
Agreed. I'm rooting for the Pre but Palm is killing me with these lame commercials. They aren't creating interest in the product! If I weren't tech savvy the only thing I'd know about this phone is that you can swipe through cards. I don't know what the cards do/are, I don't know if it plays music, browses the web, checks email or anything. This is a complete advertising fail.
I am said *chick* and I cant stand these commercials. It deffenitly does not make me want to buy this phone. AT ALL
My wife loved the commercial. She is the target. It is a "chick" phone after all.
these commercials make me not want to buy the phone
Not good. You would think Palm would have to get the commercials spot on since they are not flowing with money.
Pre friendly version?
silly
This spot, just as the "flow" spot appealed to the form of the Pre and not the function. The "river pebble" form is "spa like" but I agree with most posters. These ads do nothing to highlight what makes the Pre truly cutting edge. The shape speaks for itself. Palm needs to find a happy medium between form/function advertising.
Sent from my Pre...gotta luv it!
Is it just me, or does this gal remind you of the Borg Queen. A little disturbing. My phone is being pitched by someone wanting to destroy humanity. Yeah, not a good ad.
Thought the same thing when I saw this ad. This would be great in a movie theater right before the Star Trek movie, or right before any horror movie, but that's about it. I can't believe that Palm's advertising department let this one out on national TV. It's probably the least appealing commercial I've ever watched.
i kind of think they should just showcase the gui like Apple does. cut out all the serenity crap and just show people what the phone can do and how easy it is to use. It's a lot more fluid than the iPhone's gui (thanks to multitasking, of course). It would show apple up at their own game.
Wow, who in their creative department though it would be a good idea to make a commercial that looks like it should have been for feminine hygiene products? Come on guys, do copy testing!
She looks ill. Way to pale.
I think there are a total of 3 ads out now. I thought this was cute when I first saw. The other one offered even less I thought. Anyone notice how the slider at the end doesn't have the Oreo twist? :-).
Jason Robitaille, nobody cares what you think!
Different ads can appeal to different people, can put people in different moods, can send different messages. Diversity in marketing is a good thing. This ad is excellent because it is short, straight forward, and to the point! It leaves the consumer with a sense of curiosity like "wow, you can flip between live apps? I have never seen that before...". I think it will be very effective.
Judging by the fact that there are 13 comments ahead of yours at the time of this writing, your statement that "nobody cares" what Jason Robitaille thinks is obviously inaccurate. ;) *chuckles dryly*
I understand that Palm is trying to go for a Zen, "it just works" vibe, but I don't think that any of the commercials I've seen do enough to show what the device can actually do. The tone of the ads seems better suited for a restful pillow or mattress product than a smartphone, in my humble opinion.
"inaccurate" LOL. Way to come to the defense of the author. Good job sheep!
100% agree. it's just a phone. show what it does. Show me why i should buy it. Cause all i know from there commercials is if i buy the phone i'll be just like pale girls around and monks.
honestly if the commericals were good there wouldn't be a debate.
Ecoteric, it could be just that nobody cares what YOU think. I'm just saying...
Personally, I still think the "Have Fun" welcome video is better than any of the commercials so far.
"it could be..." What is this "it"? You obviously think that you are cool for "just saying".
Yeah... after I read your comment I went back to watch the video again...
It was even worse the second time.
And WTF cares what YOU think, retard
That girl gives me the creeps.
I feel ya. Her forehead is too big, or maybe her lips are too small...
But I think her creepiness will make people inquisitive about the Pre and will be effective in the long run.
She has the same effect on my that cold water had on George Costanza.
This Ad is awful. Period.
Let's not use that word when we're talking about women and flow together, that's just way *WAY* too precise. And Palm definitely needs to get away from the feminine hygiene product theme.
I've liked the ads so far, but this one is creeeeeepy. I have no idea how it even got out.
Nowadays when I tell people to buy a pre I have to apologize for the creepy commercials. Not a good look. I hope they pull it asap.
Agreed, this one makes me embarrassed to own a Pre. I really hope they pull it before my friends see it and don't let me hear the end of it.
its not so bad, and yes i'd hit it
i like it, but i wonder how much Microsoft paid palm to mention their search site? bing bing bing?
a commercial within a commercial? unique.
enough to keep Palm afloat a little longer
I am mesmerized by this ad...it's like a Flemish painting come-to-life. The girl exhibits all the features that the Flemish considered beautiful. I love watching this TV ad!
yeah, maybe it'll make some 16th century flemish dude buy that strange object she's holding in her hand, but it creeps everyone else out. i don't know what she's holding or what's so great about it from this ad, and i don't care
Are those lame-ass "anonymous" iPhoners still making comments on this site?
I was criticizing the ad, not the phone. Are you still on here trying to defend this lame-ass ad?
And you dumbass fanboy?
I like it. It's different, in a good way.
This is almost as bad as that awful Pre Facebook ad.
This is so much worse than the facebook ad. If this is the kind of crap palm is going to put out then they need to just let Sprint handle the advertising. Because this is terrible.
Fail
Who is handling Palms ad campaign and why did they think this was a good idea?
The use of the word "fail" as a noun rather than a verb is a fail.
its a gud thing we hav a grammer teecher heer to prufreed are posts ;)
The more I watch this video, the more I realize how epic of a fail this commercial is. First of all, the girl is not attractive or appealing, so she doesn't draw you in. The way she whips her head around is just weird and choppy. The music is bad. The scenery doesn't portray anything modern, nor does her dress, (it actually looks like she's naked). And if the bing reference was a deliberate attepmt to promote microsofts search engine, god help us. The Pre shouldn't have anything to do with that. Like who doesn't use Google? Microsoft made the Zune, cmon. I'm a PC guy, don't get me wrong, but Microsoft should just stick to Windows and Office. Somebody needs to coordinate a mass petition to Palm to hire a brand new marketing director.
Totally agree. Sprint has been doing a much better job of advertising this. Apple has once again captivated people with simplicity. They really have people thinking that there's an app for everything. The Pre can do it all at the same time! Palm SHOW PEOPLE THIS.
Yawn. Yawn. Wait... Yawn.
I thought this was an ad for some doomsday cult at first. Weird and unappealing. Palm needs to rethink their advertising or drive people away in droves. I liked the Sprint ads that showed the Pre- those were clever and catchy. Palm needs something similar.
This ad is garbage!
Funny. So many from our fair forums bought into all that talk about how "Pre is a good name, see. Not lame at all. Y'see, it's not flashy or loud or 'bold' or any of that stuff." If it's so cool and low-key, what makes this commercial weak and too quiet?
The Pre is flashy, you say? That's not its image (even before this yawn-inducing ad) because it doesn't HAVE an image with most of the public.
I completely agree that the ad is blah but I don't know how anyone can be behind the anti-marketing Palm did, the low-key debut, or the blah name (which I've gotten used to, at this point) and then claim this ad goes against the Pre's image.
Also, I want my Pre, now.
boooooo -> pale chick
yayyyyyyyy--> "have fun" welcome video
I think this commercial is probably a very calculated message. It's certainly different and can anyone honestly say different is a bad thing in advertising? Don't we always hear that when it comes to gaining public awareness, good/bad doesn't matter nearly so much as getting your name to stand out? Even the "bing" references could be intentionally capitalizing on the MS search engine that people may have heard of in the news lately. I'll call it a good commercial.
I disagree about the welcome video being a better commercial. It's long (expensive to air) and flashy, yet doesn't convey any real message at all. On the other hand, the welcome vid is precisely the sort of thing I'm delighted to see when I first turn on my new shiny. Both have their place and Palm seems to have a good handle on where that is.
True. i guess if you already have a Pre, we are not the target market. They sold me on it in Jan. and alot of other people too. Now its time to get the pale chicks that like green lights and say "bing"
calculated indeed...
She may be pale -- but she's not ugly. I think redheads are hot!!
Haha my friend saw this commercial and it made him NOT want to get the Pre. He said the girl is ugly and the commercial is really weird....
I wish they made an ad like the Palm Pre intro video. That captured my emotion.. I thought this ad was a parody or something... It's kind of weird..
The new Pre commercial seems to integrate the recent Palm commercials and the Now Network spots, as well as take a direct shot at the iPhone. All told, it looks very effective.
what target demographic is this ad targeting?
Its soo
LAME!
Just saw the new Sprint Pre ad. It's like the video version of that print ad that compares the iPhone plan cost to the Pre on Sprint.
Just occurred to me that this ad is so weird and pointless that it's working. Her gaze penetrates your soul. You will remember the Pre and you will ask yourself... "WTF is a Palm Pre?"
Mission accomplished.
And cut lets try this again instead the pale chick is topless and instead of saying "bing bing bing" she's saying "hmm hmm hmm" then we que the Happy Ending And Action.
I certainly hope they do not include/force bing down our throat's. I dislike micro$oft probably more than apple. Thats a tough call though, I might dislike apple more than micro$oft. I am not sure. Either way I do not want any part of bing palm.
Stupid Ad
Girl makes me want to vomit. They should resort to edgier modern commercials to attract the more "on the go" "younger" "hipper" crowd. Not this hippie-esque junk.
I advertise my Pre to people everyday and get comments on it, I'm doing my job for Palm. I even told a guy to spoil himself yesterday and just buy one!
LOL
Come on!! That's cold. I'll bet her skin is so smooth and soft. Think about it>
Made my day LOL
What the hell was that? That ad is just spooky!! she looks like a freaking ghost!!! C'ON PALM !! UR TRYING TO SCARY US OR WHAT..The message on the ad makes kinda sence but, WOW. if you add some spooky sound effect to that...you'll probably wet your pants.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr4oNfF4_Fo&feature=related
Scary enough for ya...???
Strange isn't always bad. Cut her some slack.
Horrible commercial and the girl is just plain strange.
I think it's good. Nice contrast with the loud and crass commericals all around.
Hey guys,
as kooljoe wrote above this ad is not directed to the sorts of people who follow and write on a blog for a gadget.. As McNamee has repeatedly said Palm wants to capitalize on the female market, non-gadget freaks like us, with the Pre. :)
Someone deciding to to get a very good phone because of an ad is just silly!
/K
I like this one.
I didnt like the other two ones so much. I believed that if palm was not going to do a commercial like the Iphone one, showing just the GUI, they could have a hard time trying to show any difference with any other smart phone, but sometimes thats just for geeks.
But the concept of Bing, bing, bing is great. "This is WEB OS: bing, bing, bing and you are done. No probs. Chill out. No other phone is like this".
These adds must hit some demographic, not sure which? I did see a great Sprint Now Ad last night that talked about the OS and compared Sprint plans against "iPhone AT&T" plans. I think it was a direct shot and a half decent one.
Looks good to me. Seems like most of you would rather Michael Bay produce the ads and have them full of flash and explosions and decepticons and shit.
Palm is making an ad campaign targeted at grown-ups...the fat middle who wants a device that is simple, not confusing...a calm experience, not a frustrating one.
Keep your fast and furious crap for the dumbphone ads targeted at the ADHD generation. This is one for the grownups.
"Palm is making an ad campaign targeted at grown-ups...the fat middle who wants a device that is simple, not confusing"
but how does this ad transfers this message? at least not to me.
I'm a grownup and I find the ad totally unappealing. But then again I'm not part of the Translucent-American community. I am starting to get the feeling they are targeting women users specifically (it is a tiny phone, after all), which if true will be embarrassing for most male Pre users. Great way to kill the brand as humiliated young men flock to trade in their new girl-phone after getting mocked by the guys in the office. I hope it doesn't come to that.
The Palm Pre advert that should have been http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYAHsz8BxDk
A modified version of this would have been great
goodness.... that was the gayest commercial i've ever seen... bing bing dude?... hell no. i hold the phone in my hand and laugh slash cry, thinking about apple's commercials that are going to smash us because of that freaking scary woman, if i didn't have the phone id have like this subliminal reconsidering suggestion in my mind because of this ugly alien-woman looking like dudes picture above: Submitted by chodaboy ---Great pic dude
I thought I was the only onw who thought they had some pretty weak commercials for the Pre. The Mona Lisa chick is kinda creepy, and the ads don't really do the phone justice as far as it's capabilities. If i saw those commercials without knowing anything about the Pre, the phone wouldn't even catch my eye because they (the commercials) don't really tell what the phone can do.
"f i saw those commercials without knowing anything about the Pre, the phone wouldn't even catch my eye because they (the commercials) don't really tell what the phone can do."
it does not even make clear, that's a phone. it could easily just be a PDA. :)
How do you know it's not her voice?
Never turn your back to the audience !
The laid back vibe is okay,nice change.... but damn its a lame thing thing thing thing ! The chic is anooooying ! Its not even her voice !
Umm, no. We are commenting/discussing it because we saw a particularly sucky commercial and had to find others who felt this way, so we can vent about it. It's total crap - cheesy, lame...I could go on. Anyone who likes it probably helped make it.
Hi, I'm a graphic designer, long time game art director, painter & cartoonist. I LOVE these commercials. Very unusual visually, but pleasing and relaxing. Like the Mona Lisa painting, everything feels soft and the woman seems to glow, her eyes sleepy, and I found myself fascinated with her mouth movements and confident, soothing voice.
If it's also disconcerting, that's because it's undefinable. It's working. We think, remember, talk about, post about & complain about it. We help spread the word.
The pale girl commercials are quite lame. She looks like a female Macaulay Culkin and makes the phone seem so boring. Way to go.
These ads make me wanna take that girl out. I can't stand how she looks like a fish and she creeps me out big time. Like I can't sleep causa her. Her random "flow" conversations are freaky as hellz and make me feel bad.
Plus, I'm a specs person. No camera details, screen resolution, keyboard type. I know it's aimed for the simple type, but the simple type probably doesn't understand "constantly updating multiple applications at one time", which is all they advertise.
I don't want the phone after seeing those ads. Scares me.
the ads for the new Palm Pre are so creepy I have to turn the channel when they come on. I'm thinking that probably in not the desired effect
The song in the ad sounds like an 80s song I can't place. Kind of a techno-song with not many discernible words... kinda went..
ah le ah oop
oop oop
blah blah blah blah blah
ah le ah oop
oop oop oop
HELP ME!!!! someone HAS to know what the heck I'm talking about!!!
as for the phone thing, I'm not interested. I appreciate the model and enjoy her non-cookie-cutter individuality - but it seems like a CK ad mixed with a bit of monostat. (but hey, at least microwus tried)
I think the biggest problem with these ads is that the actress (Tamara Hope) is not speaking in a "beautiful ethereal" way, but rather a way that is almost mumbling-- she does not open her mouth much and it stays horizontal and almost closed the whole time; she changes her vowel pronunciation at random, so it occasionally sounds like an accent, but really it's just an affect that feels artificially "precious" (and I mean that in the pejorative sense).
When a person has to strain to hear the ends of someone's words or phrases, they often get irritated and don't want to continue listening to them-- think of teachers or parents admonishing children saying, "Speak up- don't mumble."
Also, the "ethereal" look of this commercial *could* work-- it could look like a cool, fantastical, almost impressionistic painting... however, the actress has the eyes of someone who isn't quite alive, and you can't really place her "personality" or "character" or "mood"... you can't tell if she's happy, aloof, annoyed, or on some really, really serious sedatives.
And yes, we're talking about it-- but that doesn't mean it's working. This commercial has not made me more interested in looking into a Palm Pre-- it has made me more interested in talking about the commercial-- I have not done any research on the actual thing and would buy an iPhone before even looking into it... that's not good advertising.
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