Honestly I’m still puzzled as to why Motorola wasted $6 million producing a super bowl ad by trying to redo Apple’s 1984Â commercial (except this time portraying Apple users as mindless sheep).
The ad was so underwhelming that even commentors upon Android Central are complaining about it.
Although the Motorola Xoom looks impressive (thanks to Android’s latest OS, Honeycomb), the company should have emphasized why one should purchase a Xoom over an iPad, instead of trying to take subtle jabs at Apple (as you can see in the commercial below).
Instead of taking vague shots at Apple, Motorola would have been better comparing the two devices side by side, similar to what Apple did with Microsoft “I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC” commercial.
Flash Enabled
Despite being an iOS lover, one of the things I loathe about Apple’s various iDevices is the lack of Flash support.
Although HTML5 is slowly making this argument a thing of the past, most people outside of the geek world have a basic understanding what Flash is (at least as far as the basics go).
Highlighting the fact that the Xoom can display flash websites while the iPad can not would have easily portrayed the former as a superior device in front of half of the US population.
Any App I Choose?
Motorola could have easily displayed Xoom’s openness by highlighting the fact that unlike iOS, users upon Android can download any app that they desire, even ones not listed upon the official market without hacking (note: I’m assuming Motorola will allow users to install unapproved apps without incident).
Just highlighting this fact would appeal to people’s sense of freedom and openness instead of Apple’s “integrated approach” that is highly polished but controlled.
Although Motorola’s ad does try to portray the guy as a free thinker, the commercial merely paints him as being different from everyone else without clearly explaining why.
What Else Should Motorola Have Done?
For those of you passionate about Android (and who watched the super bowl ad) what would you suggest Motorola do to present their tablet as a superior alternative towards  iOS?
Originally posted on February 7, 2011 @ 5:19 pm
I think they’re cleverer than you give them credit for. They established that there is a difference, and left it for millions of discussions on what makes it different. I don’t think they could have created more interest. There was a big build up to the ad, and now everyone is talking about the “mundane ad”.
Shame, coz we like superbowl ads to be “huge”. But they’ve decided to be subtle and just do what ads are supposed to do.