don’t hate the playa
January 19, 2009
I’ve found myself hatin on this TV ad in the UK for T-mobile
It’s a cute enough clip. It also does what I think a TV ad should, which is create conversation. The comments on Youtube are full of people saying it is genius, the best ad ever etc etc.
But to me (and a handful of the commenters on Youtube) it’s just a copy of the work of Improv Everywhere, mixed with a bit of Philipino jail dancing. It was exactly what I expected as soon as it strarted, with no element of surprise. The only surprise was that it was on TV and not just a viral. (ps viral is not a noun, but a consequence of something having KUDOS)
My team talked about doing almost this exact same thing over a year ago, and I’m sure we weren’t the only ones.But we didn’t get it done. And they did. And they are hailed as geniuses. Of course they’re not, and neither were we. They saw a fairly obvious opportunity and managed to get it done, and then they put it on TV at a time when people needed cheering up.
As with entrepeneurship ideas don’t count. It’s all about timing, and getting it done.
And anyway, as Jim said, nothing is original anymore.
