Alan Reiter, the camera phone guy, has some interesting stuff to say about how phone companies are shooting themselves in the foot with dumb commercials that only reinforcing perceptions that camera+phone=public menace. He points to a TV commercial of a girl snapping a guy eating pasta like a slob, and then sending it to the guy’s fiancee. (I don’t know how this mini-story ends, but I assume the message is: “Buy a camera phone and avoid foolish mistakes like marrying a guy who doesn’t eat nice”.)
Anyway, Alan asks, “Wouldn’t you think that with all the money the handset vendors and cellular operators can spend on advertising and marketing, they would be able to come up with commercials that not only target the right demographics, but also wouldn’t wave a red flag in front of people who want to ban phones?” I agree. The ads I’ve seen in this part of the world only convince me that marketing folk haven’t got a clue about what users could do with these gadgets and so build their commercials around nonsensical scenarios involving butterflies, ocean-going yachts and beautiful people in tight sweaters. I think municipalities should ban the commercials, not the phones.