Firefox ads lame?
Ivan | Mon, 2005-05-16 17:08
I have to give credit to whoever created these ads. They are great viral tools and I'd like to do my part in creating hype around them, because the more people use Firefox the better for all parties. Even MS wouldn't mind I guess, since they are not making money selling IE. So kudos, good job! However, I guess there is always room for improvement.
I know creating these ads was a community project and considering that it's unfair for me to judge them, but still after the great FF press ad, for me these are a bit of letdown. I like the overall concept of telling the story of an exagerated FF experience tackling each benefit one by one, but if I may say it could've been done much better.
"The office"
The idea is that the guy experiences the speed of the browser. Nice concept. However the animation was a bit rushed. I would've liked to see the transformation longer. The acting is the best of all three, but still looks fake. Sounds are done well. I like the look of the female coworker, but she could've been more dramatic if she was a bit more afraid to look. The tagline says: "Feel the difference". In fact "Feel the speed" or something like that would've been a better conclusion. Also, after the tagline and logo I would've made a come back and cut to the building from the outside to show another window breaking, hence another person trying out FF.
"The mobile"
The lighting and the acting is the worth in this one. The characters are funny stereotypes and the setting should have enforced this concept. The computer and the home doesn't look like a home office. She's very cute, but unexperienced actor. The look of the face is empty and she doesn't look engaged at all. I don't really get what benefit is being dramatized here. The color of the mobile and the chocolate should've been more distinctively different, so the viewer gets what's happening easier. "Taste the difference"?? I don't see the relevance to the product. At the end a cut back to the scene with a chocolate in hand trying to make a phone call is such an obvious thing to do, don't you think?
"The notebook"
I like the morbid idea here too. But, the timing and camera movement is really bad. It's just jumping between angles without helping the story. The acting at the end is not good at all. The soundtrack is not cool and doesn't help the concept either. A dramatic turn in music would've supported the surprise element, like the sudden silence did in the "The office". Look how long the head is sitting there. C'mon we got the joke, no need to show it for several seconds. The tagline works well here. Again, after the title a headless body doing his own thing like bringing a pair of glasses or something would make the ad more complete.
Sorry to be a party pooper. I really do support the case and as we all know, there is no such thing as bad publicity.
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They are kinda lame.
Firefox is great, but it doesn't really make the internet eye-popping or extremely engaging. A better browsing experience, definately. Even a more obvious route, like an anti-microsoft one, would have been more appropriate.
they don't make any sense? All three have a part where i am like, huh?
1) the glass breaking out the window, i thought the guy was flying out the window until i saw he was still in there at the end.
2) showing the OLD ass mouse keyboard config. of a IIGs or something, then she bites her phone. Taste the difference? What? What am i supposed to taste? dont be cute.
3) guys head pops off, way cheesy. dont ever do that again.
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I think these ads suffer from the same problem as the tv ads for many types of products. They either show people whose life seems to be built around things like washing dishes / chewing gum, or try to convince you that using their product turns otherwise dull and marginal duties into a fantastic experience. I would imagine anyone who's not brain dead has no respect for such tv protagonists and would rather not be associated with them in any way. My reaction is usually "for f's sake it's just a freaking chewing gum!".
I saw these ads, , and.. that's about it. Myself I would expect viral ads made of a combination of more daring, less obvious, less corporate, less "Radio Edit" material. These nicely-combed and clean-fingernail boy ads? Not saved, not bookmarked.
I like what they're trying to do, but at this point, I think the ads really need to explain what it is and why you need it.
Chances are, if you know what a web browser is, you've tried Firefox. But I'm sure lots of people don't know what that means. Most people think the internet is that blue letter e sitting on the desktop that goes to Yahoo.com. Or that triangle/A thing for AOL.
When I installed Firefox on my parents' computer, the first thing questioned was, "Will it open Yahoo? If it doesn't open Yahoo, don't bother."
Do some kind of reverse situation showing that IE puts you in the stone ages with all the security issues etc.
Personally as far as user experience goes I prefer Safari, FF forms dont work as well and that slows me down. All in all pretty close call though.
I guess with the viral marketing they should either go farther in a sub-cultural direction to strengthen their base -OR- illustrate some basic issues for the [m]asses.
I agree these do not do much.
While I agree with most of the comments, I was pleased to see these as Flash video presentations (with no bothersome popup viewers or other hassles). Have these been on television before?
I don't think the idea of headless people is such a clever marketing ploy these days. What an incredibly bone headed thing to do. Thanks for the synopses - i'd wanted to see these but now i think i'll pass.
(happy long-time moz user for years)
They are pretty cool.. but it's only for a webbrowser nothing more.. it's not breathtaking or nothing but the three movies were kinda cool made..
Aiyayaaai waste of budget i think ... hmmm ... MS can rest easy knowing FF is so weak with their mass promo efforts haha.
Just a suggestion, maybe better doing split screen of surfing with IE and FF?
1. IE half has pop-ups,
2. Need to open multiple new windows in IE vs Tabs (soon to change in IE7 tho but thats way later and not for older WinOSes.
3. Easy FF search via the search dropdown vs IE's go to search engine then type search term? (amazon does not have a IE toolbar, nor does dictionary.com .. right?) .
ooo ... thats all I can think of now ... =)
The good thing about doing an ad wihtout showing people is that it can be aired anywhere in the world without being tied down regionally.
Just my 0.2 cents, better luck on the next FF ads!
Using the lame computer generated video effects just made each commercial cheezy, and the settings for each was out of date and stale. And, yes, there were parts in each where it made no sense.
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I posted earlier it was a grand waste of budget, well turns out its all voluntary by a crew and cast of seven.
http://www.wired.com/news/ebiz/0,1272,67612,00.html