New Kindle Commercials

[elemenoP]

Originally Posted by queentess

Right, but that doesn't help Amazon sell a product. And given the tongue-in-cheek manner of this commercial, I'd guess it's supposed to appeal to, well, people like me. Probably youngish suburbanites.

Actually, I don't think that's true. B&N sells both pbooks and readers/ebooks so promoting "reading" makes sense. But couldn't you say the same for Amazon? They could promote and sell readers, ebooks, pbooks and make money off of all of them. So why shouldn't Amazon have the same strategy?

As to your other point, I'm an old urbanite (turning 40 this year, live in NYC) so you may have a point there!

eP

[crich70]

The Amazon Kindle isn't alone in making stupid commercials. You'll find them advertising just about any product.

[JSWolf]

I don't like the last linked Kindle commercial. It shows people running around and jumping while holding a naked Kindle. It won't take much for it to slip out of the hands and fall and break. Amazon needs to get off their ass and show the Kindle in the commercials with a proper case so if people emulating the bad things (to do with any eink reader) in the commercial, the Kindle at least has a chance of maybe surviving.

I can see others saying..."My reader is better made then a Kindle so it can stand up to those thinks they do on the Kindle commercial without a case". Amazon, get a grip on reality please.

[carld]

There has to be a winner and a loser in these point/counterpoint commercials. And since you're never going to make your product the loser it has to be the other guy. This isn't anything unusual, it's done all the time.

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I don't like the last linked Kindle commercial. It shows people running around and jumping while holding a naked Kindle.

Yeah, could easily be a tampon commercial were it not for the prominently (and precariously) placed Kindles everywhere...

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by rogue_librarian

Yeah, could easily be a tampon commercial were it not for the prominently (and precariously) placed Kindles everywhere...

Well, it does have the Pearl screen...

[jhempel24]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

Well, it does have the Pearl screen...

LOL, that was funny.

[crich70]

I also think good/stupid is sometimes subjective. One person might see a given commercial and think it's dumb and another might see the same commercial and think it's rather clever. After all no two people like exactly the same things. One might like Stephen King books for example while another can't stand his work.

[Richey79]

Thought it was a clever advert.

In thirty seconds, it manages to clearly make the points:

- Reading a book on a Kindle IS reading a 'real book'.
- You can read it in the sun without suffering from glare.
- It's ridiculous to feel superior simply because you're reading a pbook.
- Using an ereader in public is a good conversation starter (and a way to pick up pretty girls).

All bundled up in a trite little scenario.

An advert that just makes you want to go and read a book wouldn't have the desired effect: it would just make most of the audience read a pbook later that evening.

I didn't feel the woman was portrayed as being stupid at all. She was smart enough to feel silly citing being able to fold a page corner down as an advantage, and open-minded enough to try the new device. Listen to the accent and voice they choice: if they had wanted the audience to end the advert thinking that 'pbooks are bad', they would have portrayed her in a very different way. The advert is just saying (as most of us do) that ebooks offer an entirely similar reading experience and, in addition, are highly portable and can hold hundreds of books.

[exscentric]

Refreshing to see a commercial with a man that is actually intelligent and making sense instead of being cave man Joe with brilliant wife :-)

[queentess]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I don't like the last linked Kindle commercial. It shows people running around and jumping while holding a naked Kindle. It won't take much for it to slip out of the hands and fall and break. Amazon needs to get off their ass and show the Kindle in the commercials with a proper case so if people emulating the bad things (to do with any eink reader) in the commercial, the Kindle at least has a chance of maybe surviving.

** Do not attempt at home. Stunts performed with ruggedized Kindle and stuntman.

[GraceKrispy]

I actually like both kindle commercials, and I think they do get their messages across rather well (although the tampon-looking one does drive me a bit crazy; I would never run around with my ereader in my hand, let along dance around on top of railings with the ereader dangling precariously....).

As I watched one of those kindle commercials, I commented that this is why no one knows what a sony is- sony has never advertised its readers anywhere I've seen.

[jedifarfy]

Originally Posted by Richey79

Thought it was a clever advert.

In thirty seconds, it manages to clearly make the points:

- Reading a book on a Kindle IS reading a 'real book'.
- You can read it in the sun without suffering from glare.
- It's ridiculous to feel superior simply because you're reading a pbook.
- Using an ereader in public is a good conversation starter (and a way to pick up pretty girls).

All bundled up in a trite little scenario.

An advert that just makes you want to go and read a book wouldn't have the desired effect: it would just make most of the audience read a pbook later that evening.

I didn't feel the woman was portrayed as being stupid at all. She was smart enough to feel silly citing being able to fold a page corner down as an advantage, and open-minded enough to try the new device. Listen to the accent and voice they choice: if they had wanted the audience to end the advert thinking that 'pbooks are bad', they would have portrayed her in a very different way. The advert is just saying (as most of us do) that ebooks offer an entirely similar reading experience and, in addition, are highly portable and can hold hundreds of books.

Agreed. I work at a big bookstore (hint: look at my signature) so I hear ALL the time 'Oh, I only read REAL books' when they see the nook all over the place. Great, but I don't think the books you read on your digital device are any less 'real', and I think that's the message they are trying to convey. When in print, on a Kindle/nook/Kobo/phone, or on a computer, a book's a book. They do only have 30 seconds to condense the whole argument of pbook vs ebook and defend the Kindle. I think they did it pretty well.

[jhempel24]

I understand the only :30 thing, I work in TV, and have done commercials from conception to production, and I don't see the :30 as an excuse.

I don't see the whole "It's ridiculous to feel superior simply because you're reading a pbook." thing in this commercial, in fact, I see the exact opposite!

In my opinion, B&N got it right with their commercial, and Amazon has a better commercial with the whole "running about" thing, I didn't notice that they didn't have a case on it, because it wasn't the focal point of the commercial.

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I don't like the last linked Kindle commercial. It shows people running around and jumping while holding a naked Kindle. It won't take much for it to slip out of the hands and fall and break.

Well, commercials are about product recognition and a case won't help this. All commercials will be made with naked readers so people will recognize the reader and not a certain cover.

Originally Posted by GraceKrispy

As I watched one of those kindle commercials, I commented that this is why no one knows what a sony is- sony has never advertised its readers anywhere I've seen.

Sony Reader commercial