GLOBAL, OCTOBER 13, 2010 – Two television commercials have come out within days of each other with a surprising message: drop the phone and make actual contact. Or something close to that. Thailand’s DTAC BB phone commercial, “Disconnect to Connect” makes a contrast between the isolation of being stuck to a phone versus being among people, while Microsoft parodies such instances in different situations in “Really” by Crispin Porter + Bogusky new Windows Phone 7. Both TVCs have been making rounds on the Internet via YouTube.
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“Disconnect to Connect” has been commended for the simple and moving message shown in different slow-action scenes. The first half of the commercial presents different people so engrossed in their phones that the world stills, as compared to when they put their phones away to make their world with the people around them come alive. The ad is in Thai, but the images speak for themselves.
Microsoft’s TVC is in English and has been chuckled at for its use of exaggerated, but scarily likely scenarios such as a Dad neglecting his child while on a see-saw, a bride going down the aisle while using her phone, and a man who retrieves to use his phone right after it drops into the urinal. The spot is part of what is said to be the biggest TV marketing campaign in the history of mobile, which also includes "The Season of the Witch" commercial.
Some commenters were quick to point out the idiosyncrasies of the message being brought to us by phone commercials. At the end of the day, they’re still selling phones.
