New Macho Droid Ads Depict iPhone As ‘Beauty Pageant Queen’

Ed Sutherland ()

droid-princess-ad

The Droid, the Motorola-made smartphone sold by Verizon, is now taking the iPhone head-on, comparing Apple’s iconic handset to a “tiara-wearing digitally clueless beauty pageant queen.” The new ad, entitled “Pretty” features a blonde woman applying lipstick while walking and admiring an iPhone-looking device.

“It’s not a princess, it’s a robot,” the commercial intones, referring to the Android-based handset. “A phone that trades hair-do for can-do.” Verizon is the rival to AT&T, currently the exclusive iPhone carrier in the United States. Recently, Verizon and AT&T have traded salvos both on-air and in the courtroom.

The ads also take a more masculine tone. At one point, the spot comments the Droid can “rip through the Web like a circular saw through a ripe banana.” The Motorola handset is also described as “fast — racehorse duct-taped to a Scud missle fast.”

The move by Motorola and Verizon appears to be a change in tactics. After the initial “iDon’t Droid” ads used to launch the smartphone, Verizon turned its guns on AT&T. A series of ads depicting the iPhone on the “Island of Misfit Toys” claimed AT&T’s 3G coverage was lacking. Earlier this week, AT&T and Verizon asked a court to dismiss lawsuits filed over that ad and earlier “Map” ads.

The more aggressive Droid ads may also be a response to Apple’s decision to support AT&T. The macho slant may be prompted by a recent survey finding men more interested in Motorola’s Droid.

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[Via AppleInsider, Gizmodo and 9to5Mac]

16 comments »

About the author

Ed Sutherland

Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.

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  • Celso Dantas

    had two motorola cellphone and hate it. Motorola not anymore, thanks.

    and it’s the iPhone 3GS fastern then Droid? I meant, booting and opening apps? I know Droid has a better processor and RAM but what about the real thing working? I think the iPhone OS is the fastest in the market, or am i wrong?

  • Patrick

    This doesn’t seem like very effective advertising……. I don’t see the iPhone as something for the clueless. I guess they are playing on the pop culture “gotta have it to be cool” notion of an iPhone……. funny thing is that if you look at photos of most every celebutard Princess, they have a Blackberry.

  • maxbug

    Very sad to see Verizon resort to name calling rather than offer a better service option. Lame Im glad I left that network years ago. The coverage is horrible despite the maps they show.

  • Movado

    Time for Apple to hit back with nasty gut-punching ads, similar to the “I’m a Mac” ads that ripped Windows Vista to shame.

    Best way to do it? Apple needs to find a SOLID UNDISPUTABLE FLAW of the Droid, preferably one that Droid owners complain about the most, and then keep magnifying and advertising THAT single problem…. magnify it to the fullest, advertise it on TV for weeks, advertise it until Droid/Verizon cries “foul” or “no fair!”

  • Steven

    It’s funny how people and / or companies that are threatened resort to immature, absurd, insulting behavior. Motorolla sucks. I would NEVER use any of their phones after getting my iPhone. Sorry, I’ve seen a droid, played with it, and there is no comparison. And then the apps?? Oh—- that’s right, their coming, right?? Give me a break.

  • Jamie

    Further fuel that Apple intends to grant the second iPhone carrier license to T-Mobile USA in 2010, rather than to Verizon.

  • Rob

    Oh come on now angry ifanboys (or should I say girls?), that was a funny commercial in good fun. Google and Apple are going to push each other to make even better products which benefits all of us. Get your underwear (or should I say panties?) out of a bunch and enjoy it.

  • mike

    owned an iphone 3g…initially wanted a 3gs, but AT&T coverage is dismal in my neck of the woods and the only support offer when my voice mails were WEEKS late arriving were to swap out the phone( third time) or cancel service i said fine cancel.

    I now own a droid and i am really satisfied. Sure the app store is smaller, but i have not had an issue finding apps for the stuff i need to do. the music player isnt as pretty, but sounds great and is functional.background processing and call sound quality alone make me prefer the droid over the ease of use ( mainly set up) of the iphone.

    after having both if i had to go back to att with the droid then screw that. the iphone is better in fit finish and polish but att’s network( in my area) is crap. would i use an iphone again if it were on another network….probably. do i think the droid and the iphone are on equal playing fields….in areas yes, others no.

  • Tobias

    These Droid ads are scraping the bottom of the barrel. They don’t appear to want to show the Droid actually performing any tasks, probably ‘cuz from what I heard it can be slow to respond to button presses (if it responds at all). Using the hyper-masculine approach reminds me those cheap energy drinks that are all caffeine and sugar (and no nutrition). This ad will appeal to geeks who secretly wish they were cage fighters in a Terminator sequel.

  • Steven

    @Rob;

    Rob, are you seriously gonna sit back behing your PC and say you don’t enjoy wearing panties every now and then?

    Cummon now, let’s get honest.

  • Paul

    Droid! The first phone designed exclusively for bigots and rednecks.

    Nice one Motorola & Verizon!

  • Steven

    @Rob;
    especially the nice, silky ones. Real nice against your skin.

  • iGenius

    “I don’t see the iPhone as something for the clueless.”

    Maybe not, but that seems to be Apple’s chosen demographic.

    Why do you think that they put only one button on the front? To maximize utility? To give the maximum flexibility?

    My guess is to convince clueless folks that EVEN THEY are able to use the device. “See how simple it is? It only as ONE button! Not like those scary-looking Blackberries!”.

  • Jamie

    iGenius you hardly live up to your name. The reason for the iPhone’s single button simplicity is that Apple actually has multi-touch screen technology that works. Placing several physical buttons (or a keyboard) is contrary and distracts from the goal of a touch-screen device.

    The reason other inferior devices like Motorola’s or LG require numerous physical buttons and keyboards is because they lack the “works-as-advertised” multi-touch screen patents that Apple uses. In case their touch screens work in a craptastic manner, they always have that physical keyboard (or numerous buttons) to go back to as a safety net.

  • http://ObamaPacman.com Obama Pacman

    This Verizon ad FAILED on so many levels.

    Long analysis on the vzw ad fail:
    http://obamapacman.com/2009/12/new-verizon-ad-fail-iphone-beautiful-droid-kludge-which-side-are-they-on/

    =)

  • Rob

    Uh, Steven seek help. Make sure not to use an iPhone though. :)