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Hype Sheet

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hype sheet

Hype Sheet: Dell's Do-Goodism and the Axe Effect

The Pitch A Super Bowl debut we somehow overlooked, this Dell spot features a cast of thousands swarming around one lucky laptop owner. With an XPS M1530 tucked beneath his arm, our handsome protagonist goes roaming around the streets of a European metropolis, Mick Jagger's "Charmed Life" pumping on the soundtrack. The city's denizens hail his approach with cheers, butt slaps, and at least one passionate kiss, treatment usually reserved for sporting heroes rather than users of mid-range computing hardware. What has this shaggy-haired Everyman done to deserve such adulation? Well, that Dell of his is part of the special-edtion (RED) lineup, so $50 of his purchase price went to The Global Fund. A noble endeavor, to be sure, but (and excuse the ensuing crassness) will this good-hearted approach really help Dell move product? Read on for an answer, as well as a special "Making of..." clip. More »

Feature

12:40 PM on Thu Feb 14 2008
By Brendan I. Koerner
3,059 views, 20 comments

Latest by psevoznik: I saw the shooting of this commercial. They made it in September in Downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina which happens to be the most european looking city in the Americas. It looked like a Hollywood super production! Awesome experience. more »

hype sheet

Hype Sheet: HD DVD's Plight in a Nutshell

The Pitch "Originality? We don't need no stinkin' originality!" So sayeth Toshiba's ad agency, which commissioned this stunningly unimaginative Super Bowl spot (which we previously lampooned as the game's "Best Lost Cause"). Three slovenly friends enjoy the big game—sans authorized NFL logos, natch—while cheerleaders cartwheel by. Once the game's over, the couch potatoes switch over to HD DVD versions of Transformers and The Bourne Ultimatum—cinematic choices that allow them to add a couple of shapely females to the mix. All this entertainment can now be yours for the low, low price of $149.99! Yet given how badly HD DVD has slipped versus Blu-Ray in recent weeks, will Toshiba's meat-and-potatoes message (and quickie price reduction) save the day? A key making-of-the-ad detail reveals a sad truth. More »

Feature

12:00 PM on Thu Feb 7 2008
By Brendan I. Koerner
12,540 views, 56 comments

Latest by Ben Zvan: @Seiven: But I really don't want commercials downloaded directly to my memories. Popcorn implants would be awesome though. more »

hype sheet

Hype Sheet: Electrocution is Comcastic!

The Pitch A harried mother, her face creased with exhaustion and dread, pleads with her son's principal via telephone. It seems that little Sammy's been expelled on account of some violent malfeasance. Mom promises that her demonic offspring has seen the light, but Sammy proves otherwise in the background; he inserts a vacuum in the family aquarium, just to see the fishies die. Fire and mayhem result, though all involved are lucky to be alive—water plus electrical appliances generally equal tragedy, no? (Or at least so I learned in the first scene from The Believers). It's the perfect setup for an insurance ad, but don't be fooled: The product on offer here is Comcast Digital Voice, the cable Goliath's phone service. "Your phone calls won't change, they'll just cost less," the narrator promises. But is this money-saver really such a revelation, especially compared to VoIP upstarts like Vonage? More »

Feature

12:20 PM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Brendan I. Koerner
3,639 views, 39 comments

Latest by youngjjohnson: @poppy: well since you need a internet connection to use vonage...how do you do that without a computer. How many people pay for a internet connection with out a computer more »

hype sheet

Hype Sheet: Nokia Welcomes Spendthrifts to the "Next Episode"

The Pitch Nokia ramps up its N95 8GB campaign with this lyrical-yet-baffling spot, featuring an array of international archetypes absorbing media in ways that may soon be obsolete: sitting in darkened cinemas, listening to battered boomboxes, watching interference-addled TVs. The narrator's ghostly voice spills forth from the various antiquated devices on display, warning the actors that their worlds are about to be turned upside down—no longer shall they be tethered to the clock radios, opera houses and coin-op games of yore. Thanks to the N95 8GB, the mobile-entertainment future is now—at least for consumers willing to part with $779. Is Nokia about to give Apple a run for its money in the high-end cellphone market, something the Finnish giant has been hankering to do for a while? Or has Nokia picked precisely the wrong N95 8GB virtues to tout? More »

Feature

12:35 PM on Thu Jan 24 2008
By Brendan I. Koerner
1,989 views, 15 comments

Latest by DJTripleRRR: @thebarron: It has a longer battery life. more »

hype sheet

Hype Sheet: Apple Goes, Quite Gently, for the Jugular

The Pitch Apple sticks with the "dance with the one that brung ya" philosophy for the start of '08, churning out yet another Mac-versus-PC chestnut. This time, though, the tone's a notch more acidic than in spots past—John Hodgman's PC comes off as more flummoxed than usual, readily admitting to Vista's many faults. (Sound like someone else we know?) Since this ad was designed in part as an intro to Steve Jobs' Macworld keynote, it also includes a brief laundry list of Apple's other recent accomplishments—notably last year's iPhone coup. Does this commercial from the tried-and-true school portend a banner year for Apple, or is the joke (as well as its pull on consumers) finally starting to wear thin? More »

Feature

12:15 PM on Thu Jan 17 2008
By Brendan I. Koerner
11,464 views, 81 comments

Latest by rimplestultskin: i have to agree with vista not being good, especially since my computer is junk-ass hardware and i run a lot of programs, so i have no extra space in my RAM to run a fancier operating system, if anything more »

hype sheet

Hype Sheet Special: Blu-ray vs. HD DVD for All the Marbles

Few things set geek hearts aflutter like a juicy hardware rivalry. Who among us hasn't thoroughly enjoyed taking sides in such legendary throwdowns as Mac versus PC, PlayStation versus Xbox, or (for the truest of old-timers) Atari versus Intellivision? It's thus in our nature to pay excessive attention to the raging Blu-ray versus HD DVD imbroglio, which is several shades more entertaining that any other ongoing battle. Enormous vats of digital ink have been spilled in the name of arguing which format is better. But quality doesn't always guarantee victory—just ask the Betamax. Who, then, is winning the disc-of-tomorrow advertising war? We'll start with HD DVD's latest entrant, starring...ex-San Diego Chargers head coach Marty Schottenheimer? What, Rich Kotite wasn't available?
More »

Feature

12:40 PM on Thu Jan 3 2008
By Brendan I. Koerner
12,212 views, 61 comments

Latest by axiomatic: @Brian Lam: That might be true now that Blu-ray is using VC1 to encode master disc's, but I own a few of the non-VC1 Blu-ray disc's and they look like shit. The first really good looking Blu-ray I saw was "The more »

hype sheet

Hype Sheet: Back to the Future With Magnavox

The Pitch With mere days left before the dawn of 2008, there's precious little time left to celebrate a geek milestone: the silver anniversary of the incomparable Magnavox Odyssey gaming console. This particular ad, however, aired in early 1973, about nine months after the Odyssey's debut. The oddly unenthusiastic narrator terms the product "the electronic game of the future" as a Brady-like couple sets up their rig—a surprisingly laborious process involving plastic overlays. Man and wife enjoy a few rounds of Magnavox Hockey, Tennis, and (ugh) Geography on their "closed-circuit electronic playground," twiddling the knobs on their toaster-sized controllers. The spot ends with an exhortation to visit your Magnavox dealer ("he's listed in the Yellow Pages," natch). A hilarious fossil of a commercial, but also an early example of how technology companies deal with marketing crises—especially when they're in the midst of pushing truly novel products. More »

Feature

12:00 PM on Thu Dec 27 2007
By Brendan I. Koerner
2,850 views, 30 comments

Latest by jham65: I remember having an "Odyssey 2000"-was there such a thing? It was a white console with three black dials on each end for two player pong. One dial moved your paddle up, one moved it down, and the other allowed more »

hype sheet

Hype Sheet: Olympus Sees Your Undies

The Pitch An intrepid mountaineer summits a snowy peak, raising his arms in the universal symbol of triumph. The celebratory moment is ruined, however, when his flip phone rings—T-Mobile has apparently been installing cell towers in the Himalayas. The message our intrepid hero receives is an important one: His fly is open, an embarrassing oversight that's quickly corrected. How did the caller know the mountaineer was in danger of hanging brain? Because he's stationed down below with an Olympus SP-560 Ultra Zoom camera, which features an 18x optical zoom. Okay, so we get the basic gist—hooray for a maximum focal length of 486mm! But what might this spot tell us about the future of Olympus, the world's fourth-biggest camera maker? More »

Feature

12:15 PM on Thu Dec 20 2007
By Brendan I. Koerner
9,243 views, 21 comments

Latest by n/a: Well ACHIRON, the Sigma 300-800 is about $7200.00, and if you want to put a teleconverter on it, you won't have any autofocus (minimum Fstop of f/8 and it's gone). Also, your 2x crop factor is because of a closer-to-point-n-shoot more »

hype sheet

Hype Sheet: Pioneer's Nightmarish Vision

The Pitch Someone over at TBWA\Chiat\Day has been reading their Sandman back issues, it seems. How else to explain the terrifying image contained within this Pioneer spot, of teeth embedded in eye sockets—seems to be a direct rip from the Corinthian, no? The stuff of nightmares, perhaps, but also a pretty memorable come-on for the new Kuro lineup of best-in-class plasma TVs, which ostensibly provide the deepest, richest blacks this side of reality. Is Pioneer poised to become a serious high-end HDTV player, after a long stretch in the wilderness? Or is the company's massive effort on behalf of the Kuros too little, too late, what with brands like Samsung and LG already so firmly entrenched in the consumer psyche? More »

Feature

12:15 PM on Thu Dec 13 2007
By Brendan I. Koerner
11,641 views, 23 comments

Latest by austek: The lower definition (not Elite) plasma HDTVs are actually WXGA not 720p as mentioned in an earlier comment. To me the KURO models put Pioneer a step ahead of the competition in the plasma field. Perhaps the KURO's rejuvenating plasma more »

hype sheet

Hype Sheet: The Iceman Insists That You're Getting a Dell

The Pitch As part of its sprawling "Star Power" holiday campaign, Dell enlists MMA legend Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell for a tongue-in-cheek shill session. Diction isn't Liddell's forte, alas, so it's a bit tough to understand his entire spiel—especially his use of a money vs. happiness line chart toward the commercial's end. But the basic gist is simple enough: buy an XPS desktop, or the Iceman will pound you into submission. Note the look of terror in the mangled chart-holder's eyes—that young man seems to know Liddell's fury firsthand. Overall, a clever concept slightly marred by so-so execution. Would struggling Dell have been better served by spending its zillions elsewhere? Or shall mock scare tactics put the once-proud company on the comeback trail? More »

Feature

12:15 PM on Thu Dec 6 2007
By Brendan I. Koerner
7,126 views, 40 comments

Latest by SomeoneUKno: HEY GUYS!!! DIVERSION! I guess everyone was too busy flaming the hell outta each other to notice that Iceman says that we can get both Windows AND Vista Ultimate! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?! WINDOWS AND VISTA ULTIMATE?!? ITS LIKE THE more »

hype sheet

Hype Sheet: Sirius Plays the Bones, Yells "Domino!"

The Pitch A cleverly conceived journey through the history of sonic media (though, regrettably, the creators don't include the phonograph cylinder). Cassettes, 8-track cartridges and CDs are lined up like so many dominoes, all tumbling with a mighty clack. The surprise comes toward the end, when a crashing jukebox sets off an iPod chain reaction. All those perfect things fan out before a seemingly mammoth Sirius Stiletto 2, which the narrator touts as revolutionary: "Everything else falls short." So is Sirius's revamped portable player really about to give the iPod a run for its money? Or are the headphoned masses (Howard Stern aficionados excluded) not yet ready to pay monthly subscription fees? More »

Feature

12:15 PM on Thu Nov 29 2007
By Brendan I. Koerner
7,725 views, 22 comments

Latest by linoth: It might interest me if there was a way to sample their content without having to commit to an expensive reciever and subscription outright. There's never been a lot of radio stations around here, and the few that I more »

hype sheet

Hype Sheet: Buy This Computer or You're the Worst Parent Ever

The Pitch Time for a little holiday nostalgia this week, as Hype Sheet goes digging through the crates for this 1983 Texas Instruments gem—a textbook example of preying on parental fears. A blond, bowl-cutted moppet sits on daddy's lap, toying with an educational program on the family's snazzy TI-99/4A. "A Texas Instruments home computer can give him a real head start," intones the honey-voiced narrator, as Junior successfully identifies a pixilated rabbit. At the end, however, the message turns more ominous: "Don't put it off!"—the unspoken end of that sentence being, "...or your kid will be DUMB!" America, however, wouldn't be cowed by scare tactics: TI was forced to close its home-computer division that same year. Was the home of the integrated circuit just a victim of bad timing? Or did it botch its marketing strategy? More »

Feature

12:00 PM on Thu Nov 22 2007
By Brendan I. Koerner
10,062 views, 21 comments

Latest by Starcade: My grandparents had one of these. I remember going over their house and playing parsec with the voice module. Was a fun system. more »

hype sheet

Hype Sheet: Juking for Verizon's Sake

The Pitch As a raucous Hardnox tracks kicks in, a nimble-footed, ponytailed cat named Charles does his thing on an unadorned soundstage. And what a thing it is—the sort of gorgeously fluid dancing that makes us Joe Q. Publics curse the gods for failing to grant us such talent. Charles's moves are all the more impressive when you notice that he's performing while clutching something in his right hand—one of those new Samsung Jukes that Verizon's pushing (and aggressively subsidizing) nowadays. Is this specs-free spot—which is part of a dance-centric series—gonna sell the kiddos on the Juke? Or will they chortle at a mere 2GB worth of internal memory? More »

Feature

12:15 PM on Thu Nov 15 2007
By Brendan I. Koerner
11,527 views, 21 comments

Latest by n/a: wow so it's basically an evolution of the cripwalk into the mainstream urban culture. heh. lol. more »

hype sheet

Hype Sheet: Acer Ladles Out the Bollywood Cheese

The Pitch Bollywood tropes can be hard for non-Indians to process, and the song-and-dance routine in this Acer spot is no exception. It starts off as a West Side Story clone, with finger-snapping toughs—er, "toughs"—bobbing their heads. But why are they in a prison? And what is matinee idol Hrithik Roshan doing there, teasing two inmates whose sentences include the forced use of laptops sans Acer's "eTechnology" bloatware? As the ensuing musical production explains, using an Acer Aspire 4920 shall liberate you from the shackles of technofrustration. "Life is busy, Acer makes it easy!" chimes Roshan, assisted by a gaggle of comely backup dancers. Perhaps, but does Acer really have a prayer of becoming the subcontinent's go-to laptop brand? More »

Feature

1:00 PM on Thu Nov 8 2007
By Brendan I. Koerner
6,392 views, 11 comments

Latest by sandro: holy crap ! more »

hype sheet

Hype Sheet: Philips and the Art of Naked Humiliation (NSFW)

WARNING: VIDEO INCLUDES BRIEF, PASTY REAR NUDITY!
The Pitch A melanin-impaired British bloke, donning nothing more than a pair of heart-splashed boxers and a wireless Philips headset, dances maniacally through his mum's house. All's going swimmingly until our hero slides into the kitchen, where he rocks a little Running Man, then starts making love to the granite countertop. Alas, the cat is too absorbed in his music to notice the gathering of aging biddies in the living room, just on the other side of some glass doors. When "Jonathan" whips off his undies, stern-faced mum decides she's had enough; she rings her son, whose headset conveniently allows him to field phone calls, too. Rank embarrassment ensues, as Jonathan covers up his babymakers and exits stage left. Does Philips expect us to emulate this exhibitionist weirdo and pony up around $100 for Bluetooth cans?
More »

Feature

12:15 PM on Thu Nov 1 2007
By Brendan I. Koerner
20,597 views, 16 comments

Latest by Pender: Kinda hot. more »

hype sheet

Hype Sheet: What Happens in Vega$...

The Pitch We've seen this approach before, eh? Looks like one of those AT&T commercials in which a dropped call leads to an awkward situation—a mother spontaneously revealing her sexually licentious past, for example, or Roger Clemens pushing it one season too far. But this schlubby hubby's problem isn't poor reception. Rather, it's the fact that he's just lost $5,800 playing blackjack in Vegas—a revelation he conveniently buries midway through the conversation. His disgruntled, potato-peeling wife doesn't explode, but points out (correctly) that dear hubby seems to be a bloomin' idiot. Good thing the unhappy couple is taking advantage of AT&T's Rollover minutes—a promotion inherited from Cingular—or the call would be sinking them even further into debt. Why has AT&T forsaken its long-running "fewest dropped calls" pitch in favor of stressing its trademarked Rollover deal? More »

Feature

5:09 PM on Thu Oct 25 2007
By Brendan I. Koerner
10,277 views, 17 comments

Latest by Captain Angry: The fewest dropped calls slogan was dropped after they were no longer the company tested with fewest dropped calls. I read about it on the giz a while back. more »

hype sheet

Hype Sheet: IBM and the Rage of the IT Underclass

The Pitch A balding butterball stumbles through a barren, Tatooine-like landscape. He's on the search for water, no doubt, but instead he finds a cluster of fridge-sized servers—the gods are obviously displeased with our afflicted protagonist. "The servers are too hot!" he exclaims, before crumbling in a heap. Moments from death, however, a bespectacled angel appears—the archetypal IT geek, passing along a message of sweet salvation. Turns out the desert scenario was all in Butterball's tortured mind, and he's just passed out at the base of a nifty IBM BladeCenter—a server ostensibly designed to run cooler than its competitors. All in all, a no-nonsense, slightly ham-fisted spot—as well as a salvo in an increasingly bitter server war twixt IBM and HP. And so begineth an era in which enterprise hardware shall be marketed like Fruit Loops—what an exciting time to be alive. More »

Feature

12:15 PM on Thu Oct 18 2007
By Brendan I. Koerner
5,574 views, 6 comments

Latest by mcsurfer3393: I like the commercial. It makes me giggle every time I see it. more »

hype sheet

Hype Sheet: The iPhone's Downshift, With a Little Help from Doug

The Pitch Apple does a 180 from its usual DayGlo approach and mounts a man-on-the-street campaign, all in the name of that milestone gadget you either love to love, or love to hate. First up is recent iPhone convert Doug, who ungrammatically hails his non-bricked gizmo as "one of the greatest advancements in the history of mankind." His primary evidence? The fact you can scroll past voicemails that have obviously been left by mendacious deadbeats. And that's it—the spot closes with a staged-looking outtake of Doug leaving the scene, a shot meant to stress the fact that everything you just saw was completely unscripted. Okay, so this very column recently quipped that Apple might want to consider changing up is ad approach, if for no other reason than to keep the masses guessing. But is Doug the answer? More »

Feature

12:58 PM on Wed Oct 10 2007
By Brendan I. Koerner
10,580 views, 38 comments

Latest by spinner: Well, here's something I never thought i'd say about Apple-anything. It's a fucking ad. After the 500-word dissemination? Still. Just. A. Fucking. Ad. more »

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