I.am Not Pleased With This Blackberry Videomercial

This Is an 'Integration'?

Posted by Charlie Moran on 08.06.08 @ 02:13 PM

This Will.i.am video is an ad for Blackberry mostly because it contains an ad for Blackberry, as in a literal outdoor bus stop ad that the Black Eyed Peas front-man seems invisibly tethered to most of the first minute -- roughly all you need to see before you can switch it off.

While cellphone placements in music videos are really nothing to blog about these days, it's not often that we get an example that's quite as meta as this one. Or as lazy, ham-handed or obvious. We understand return-on-investment is pretty important these days and kids don't care that much about seeing brands in their entertainment, but couldn't someone have put some creative thought into this?

I know, I know, that's asking a bit much from Will.i.am, but "integrated" isn't even the right word to describe this video. How about "glued together"?

Even on purely aesthetic grounds, this virtual bus stop ad distracts because it seems slapped on in post-production without much effort; it's too bright and crisp from every angle to look real, which destroys the visual effect of Will.i.am grabbing the phone from it.

And when you see a placement like this with an obtrusive, persistent logo, aren't you betraying a lack of confidence in the look and feel of your product? Would Apple need to flash a giant logo in order to show people that Will.i.am was speaking on an iPhone?

Listen, just because we're willing to tolerate this stuff doesn't mean that we'll buy into it. For an integration to work, it needs to feel organic and effortless, as if the (in this case) musician was a fan of the product and might have put it in his or her video regardless of the money. Failing that, a bit of irony can sometimes work too.

[Via NY Post]