Scouting links? Cancel your Phones4U contract

[Sysman]

This is just so typical of lazy, complacent, London-centric ad agencies.

I have dealt with a ton of these agencies and 'Adam & Eve' are just about your typical, low-end players. Their website is all 'Twitter and shytter'. Nothing of their work to show.

Oh, the London-centric bit again. To see some adverts you could be forgiven for thinking that the rest of the UK doesn't exist.

Their web site tells me nowt about what they do-

The people who work in these kind of agencies are typically very 'metro-centric', almost always under 35, 'metrosexual' grads who have done nothing else at all, except for the odd gap year in Indonesia which Daddy paid for.

I used to have a mate who had worked in advertising, His comment was that it was fantastic money but you were burned out by 35. It gave him the dosh
to buy an extremely nice house in a very private location, and start up a very successful Plan B.

So, Adam & Eve are crude but probably effective (sadly).

It is a shame.

From the Marketing Magazine link you gave:

The company [Phones4U] has now taken a calculated chance by ditching a campaign that was billed one of Marketing readers' most irritating ads of 2008, as well as scooping it a Marketing Society Effectiveness Award.

So they think it's OK to irritate us if it's effective.

P.S. It is precisely because of the irritation factor that I rarely watch telly adverts any more.

[dang65]

I've already filed a complaint with the ASA.

It's a rubbish ad, but getting indignant about it seems a bit pointless. Anyway, how does having more than 50 contacts in your phone make you cool? The advert doesn't even make any sense. I bet the coolest people in the world don't even own a mobile phone.

[bogeyman]

It's a rubbish ad, but getting indignant about it seems a bit pointless. Anyway, how does having more than 50 contacts in your phone make you cool? The advert doesn't even make any sense. I bet the coolest people in the world don't even own a mobile phone.

I expect you're right.

But it's all so typical of the age. The more 'friends' you have, the more worthy you are. The worst thing you can be today is 'Billy no mates'.

That's why sites like MySpace and Facebook are so enourmously popular with the denizens of today's airhead culture. They think somehow those 3,000 'friends' are actually worth something - and make their lives justifiable.

Advertisers naturally pick up on this, and (ab)use it in their campaigns.

You're a sad nobody if you don't have 50 contacts on your mobile!

There was a job advertised recently for a position in one of the bigger creative agencies, for quite a junior position, that stipulated that applicants must have more than x amount of 'friends' on FaceBook and a personal website with a Google rank of 3 or above.

FFS

[oraclesmith]

It's a rubbish ad, but getting indignant about it seems a bit pointless.

There is a serious point in getting the ad withdrawn ASAP. Many Scouts (and even some young Leaders) suffer bullying from those who believe the kind of stereotype about Scouting that the ad is trying to portray.

This is especially relevant to Explorer Scouts (14-18 years) who are particularly vulnerable to peer group persecution for their association with Scouting. It's an issue that the Chief Scout Bear Grylls is sure to have something to say about, because he's going to have to work even harder to keep the Scouting image cool on behalf of the young people involved.

As per a previous post, having tons of friends/contacts and getting respect from your mates is extremely important to that age group and being told you're officially 'unpopular' in relation to your treasured mobile phone is a powerful stick to beat you with.

[minestrone]

I have not seen this advert, did they claim that all people in the scouts are sad or that a fictional character who was in the scouts was sad?

[oraclesmith]

I have not seen this advert, did they claim that all people in the scouts are sad or that a fictional character who was in the scouts was sad?

This tells you about the campaign. Just Google Phones4u Scouts and you'll see some sites about the ad.

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/n...-youth-market/

It portrays a guy labelled as 'The Scout Master' with the caption 'You might be good at knots. You might be good with children. But there's no way you've got 50 contacts in your phone' There is a 'No' sticker at the top of the poster, and the firm is looking to send out Yes and No stickers to 16-24 year olds. I wonder how many 'No's will be slapped on the backs of Explorer Scouts when they're at school.

[TykeMerc]

Stupid campaign, I have roughly 100 contacts on my phone of which 6 are friends and the rest are business related.

I reach for the mute button as soon as the adverts come on as 98% are annoying bollocks.

[Sysman]

Stupid campaign, I have roughly 100 contacts on my phone of which 6 are friends and the rest are business related.

I reach for the mute button as soon as the adverts come on as 98% are annoying bollocks.

Of course the 50 plus "friends" will probably exert peer pressure to have the right trainers/designer stuff.

Going back to when I first started working abroad, one of the highlights of a trip back to the UK was the often humorous and entertaining telly ads. The only recent one which made me smile was the PG Tips one where they did a spoof of the Morecambe and Wise breakfast sketch.

Since I got a digital box, I record most stuff and can skip past the ads.

[bobhope]

Aren't phones4u the dodgy offshore tax dodger people?

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/ar...2&in_page_id=2

[BrilloPad]

Aren't phones4u the dodgy offshore tax dodger people?

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/ar...2&in_page_id=2

Clearly he did not make large enough donations to the Liebour party.