First Veer TV commercial hits, little guy packs a bit of punch [video] 110
Tue, 31 May 2011 11:31 pm EDT 
HP promised that the advertising would eventually kick off, and now it’s here. Spotted tonight on multiple shows across multiple channels was the first television advertising for the HP Veer. And as a bit of irony, the first Veer commercial starred (apart from the phone) the first spokesperson we saw signed up for the campaign: champion boxer Manny Pacquiao. The commercial shows off cards, multitasking, apps, the gesture area (woo!), and Mr. Pacquiao threatening to punch the camera. HP artfully worked the boxer’s reputation as a small but beastly fighter into the commercial: “So, why did I get a small phone? Well, if there is one thing I know: little guys can pack a punch.”
Pacquiao may not be the absolute best spokesperson HP could have picked (though it's likely part of it is due to the audio having been muffled by being recorded off a TV and then uploaded to YouTube), but we expect he’s going to be one of many. This commercial also looks to set a new precedent for HP’s ads. Where the “The Computer is Personal Again” campaign centered around graphics and computers and stuff happening with swirling hands in front of the celebrity’s torso, the “Everybody On” campaign looks to place the device directly in front of the celebrity’s face, only revealing who they are at the end and actually showing the device in action (something we’ve been demanding from webOS ads for a long long time). We also go the new tagline for webOS: “Works like nothing else.”
A video of the ad is after the break (we’re looking for a better quality version update: got it, thanks BAUERMUNDO!) – what do you think of the direction of this new campaign?
Source: YouTube (Original, Better Quality); Thanks to Jason for the tip!
110 Comments
i like it. it follows the direction of all their other commercials
I thought it was terrible. HP can do better. HP's marketing continues to suck. Apple is probably still laughing this morning.
Whatever. You sound like a tool though fyi.
That's an ad hominem logical fallacy.
Hey, don't Hate.
Well, if you don't have any CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, why don't you keep your negative energy to yourself? I bet you also have opinions on the weather?
Yup everything is in here now the best artist they to feature are EMINEM AND DR. DRE OOOOHHHHH YEAH THEY WILL MAKE A LOT OF SALES OFF THESE 2.
Don't confuse yourself with the target group. To which you most likely do NOT belong.
Pacquiao is immensely famous worldwide. The guy is a God in Asia. He will sell phones.
Not bad! I like Manny...and you won't catch me disagreeing with him!
Nice new slogan. Nice use of product. Nice commercial overall. Should probably use a different voiceover guy at the end. Feels alot like other AT&T commercials.
yeah i saw it on the colbert report on comedy central it was nice !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EVERYONE LOVES THE PAC MAN
I like it - I think Manny's a perfect spokesman for the Veer!
This is awesome.
Yes. Awesome.
go webOS!
We have a winner.
The Pac Man.. nice commercial!
great stuff... keep this going
People complaining about nothing special in 3, 2, 1 ...
;)
I don't like the ad, but it's an OK start.
I wish that the ad focused on webOS more. I'm OK with the direction of the campaign as long as this is just the start (celebrity ads to build buzz; webOS feature ads later).
It showed off multitasking, cards, and gestures. What more do you want? If you want a purely webOS commercial it's not going to appeal to people or get their attention.
Multitasking and cards are the same thing. webOS is much more than multitasking and gestures. I don't think they are enough to sell webOS to most people. I never said that I wanted a purely webOS commercial. I want an ad that says something more than "I run, do sit-ups, and burn calories."
i think you're missing the point. It talks about how a phone works so well with a user, in this case the best boxer in the world.
He runs,and thus has an app that tracks his route. He does sit ups, and has an app (stacked!) that counts it. He has calorie counter, and lastly he's showing a video of Pacquiao highlights.
All this shows multitasking, and it fits a theme. What did you want him to say?
"I run, i update my twitter, and do my finances and then i play angry birds. This phone packs a punch because it has WebOS and is the best thing ever. Does that please you Spinfusor?"
I'm not missing the point; I just don't think the point is enough. The only things in the ad that differentiate the Veer from other smartphones are cards and the size (the latter of which could have been shown better).
You're talking to the clueless.
exactly...great commercial.
Precisely.
Don't forget that it's only a 30 second commercial...the amount if information you can give is VERY limited in that time frame.
For all of you who don't work in advertising or marketing - a 30 second spot is not going to teach you WebOS. It WILL generate interest and recognition.
ok now I want a Klondike bar
and I want a Miller High Life. After all, its the "Champagne of Beers"... or so they would have you believe.
I like the commercial. Maybe bring back hot chick urban shopper from the very last palm ad, just no borg lady please
Ahh yes . . of course it's the "Champagne of Beers"! Says so right on the label!
And just like champagne it gives you a wicked hangover and catastrophic puking after a few bottles :P
The commercial? I think it's quite good. Shows webOS in action. Shows relevance as to use. And plays off Manny being a wee lad that is stupid strong for his size. For a 30 second spot its right there. Too bad Manny sucks at English.
Don't forget that there's a sizable population in this country for whom English is a second language. Somehow, I believe that this ad speaks to them.
Fine with me, just get webOS to market, any market, alluv 'em
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ynhS3E-eh0
Maybe bring her back for Pre3 commmercial?
Love that commercial and thought it was very creative in a world for of DROID lightning bolts and techno marketing. Actually, the first Droid commercials were pretty successful, but they've all become same old same old and now I just mute them when they play.
Either way, the new commercial ROCKS and I like quick and easy and getting right to the punch!!!
Anyone figure out what the apps were that he was using? Only one I could read was Calories. Sorli...
Yes bring that hot urban chic back, I loved that ad.
They need to show more shots tighter on the phone. One the enticing things about the iPhone commercial is the phone takes up the whole screen. I know the point of the Veer is it's small, but they don't need to prove you can't see the tiny screen on the commercials. At least show what the phone can do.
that is a tight shot on the phone. It's really small! His hands only show his fingers!
Nice job, HP.
The commercial is OK, probably technically better when direct, not video.
The boxer is pretty amazing; along with being his district's Congressman, according to NPR sports commentator, he is probably the fittest athlete in the world right now, even though boxing as a sport is in decline.
LOVE IT!!! Best WebOS commercial ever made!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ycv6ZGAMAf0 in HD
Nice, you should tip precentral and webosroundup.
The link tells me theres a problem loading...what is the vid?
Its encouraging to see some quality ads. Doesn't make me want a Veer but if they throw a similar effort for the Pre 3 it'll be great.
Exactly, doesn't make me want a Veer either. Good quality stuff right?
Apple probably had a good laugh this morning knowing HP still doesn't get it.
I got a veer :) not because of this ad though, but i feel better seeing this ad.
Yeah, but did you ever want a Veer? The commercial is not going to change the opinion of someone who has read up on the Veer and already decided they don't want it. Maybe you do want the Veer and this particular ad doesn't speak to you. That's fine too, not all marketing is going to impact everyone. Personally, I think you're being far too critical of the marketing. For a 30 second slot, it hit the high points while showing the size of the phone (which is one of HP's selling points) and got the celebrity value in there as well. It was succinct, easy to understand and the bit at the end about "small guys pack a punch" was funny and telling.
Too much emphasis on size which should be obvious enough. HP comes across as trying to hard to justify it.
Too hard for what audience? Keep in mind that the vast majority of people viewing the ad will never have heard anything about the Veer. At all. They need to be told that the phone is small, but powerful. The expectation needs to be set and since it's such an obvious part of the appeal for the phone, HP needs to hammer that home. For us, yes, it's obvious, we get it, it's small and still fast and powerful.
The ad is not trying to target people like us so looking at it from that view point makes no sense.
Oh, not only can you not say anything constructive but you also REPEAT exactly the same post you did earlier with other words? Go complain somewhere else.
I think this gets people's attention, especially using such a recognizable figure like Manny. What would be an awesome follow-up is to show how much easier it is to really multi-task using webOS vs. the other platforms. I'll admit I don't have a lot of time using Android, WP7, or iOS, but using my wife's Atrix drives me bat **** nuts... "you mean I have to hit the home button every time I want to switch apps?".
If you hold the home button it brings up your 8 most recently opened apps and you can switch to them without going back to the home screen. It really isn't so much the ui I don't like, but the crashes, freezes, malware, fragmentation and unreliability that I don't like about my atrix. Can't wait to get rid of android.
If they can pull large figures from a diverse range of interests, I could see this being very effective, but they're going to have to pick 7-10 very different people to make in impact on a very large group.
Damn. 7000 calories? That's more than what we have in apps. JK. I kid you... Great commercial. Better than I expected when I heard Pac Man would be in a webOS commercial.
Liked it. I think even if Veer wouldn't become a runaway success, it'll build up momentum and platform for its big brother Pre3 later in the summer. Good start of the campaign.
great commercial. It's simple, short, to the point. Peoples attention span are fairly short anymore, especially when your talking about the average consumers mind. I have a feeling this is just the start.
If HP keeps doing commercials like this, it won't be long before webos becomes popular. Maybe they just need a catchy slogan to embed into peoples minds.
Just saw it on Comedy Central. Finally a good commercial for WebOS.
I just saw it after Conan, right after I read the article.
No offense, but I think the author is a bit out of the loop in regards to Pacquiao's popularity. The guy is HUGE. Easily one of the most famous athletes on the planet.
Good coup for HP and I think a fitting spokesman for the Veer - if the message is "small and powerful".
- This from someone who has lost too many bets betting AGAINST Manny. That man is a force of nature.
I'm not much of a boxing fan, but Pacquaio (sp?) fights make me sit down and pay attention. I won't ever PPV them but it's cool to have a fighter with such skill, precision, and power doing his thing out there. If I happen to see one of his fights in-progress or a news story about his charity work, multi-platinum recording career or his political evolution, I'm stopping to watch.
HP and the webOS faithful could MUCH worse.
Oh yeah, and the video actually showcased webOS. Whodathunkit?
And so it begins.
that phone looks amazingly small in his hands. Like it looks fake.
not for me though. way too small.
I think the commercial is brilliant. I'm not a boxing fan, so I have no clue who this guy is, but if I was away from the TV I would have come back as soon as he started with, "I run 10 miles every morning." That is an attention grabber. Showing the features of the phone up close and revealing the spokesperson at the end all did great for building interest.
Man I didn't know the Veer was the size of my head!! It's huge!
Makes me want to run 10 miles a day...do...a lot of sit ups...eat 7000 calories....I like the commercial!
Oh, and I wouldn't mind having a Veer either! I am more interested in the Pre3, but, I could be persuaded...by Manny!
I think PAKAPUNCH should be the Veer's Tagline.
All i got to say.What a great start HP. I like it a lot.
Great ad HP!!! I love the ''works like nothing else'' tagline. How proud we all are...lol i knew you guys could put together a quality ad. Go Hp!
I don't know about the rest of you but one thing that impressed me was that he was using gestures & the keyboard....without looking at the phone! Now that is ease of use right there. Good job HP.
How do I enable the advanced gesture that opens apps? In card mode, there are only two apps open, yet he then uses the advanced gesture to swipe to new apps that were not open! Is this a homebrew feature??!!
Go to "Screen & Lock"--> "advanced gesture" then turn it on.
Do any of those apps actually exist for WebOS besides the calendar they show at the end?
Of course not, oh wait.
https://developer.palm.com/appredirect/?packageid=com.speedymarks.palmpr...
https://developer.palm.com/appredirect/?packageid=com.miller-technologie...
https://developer.palm.com/appredirect/?packageid=com.looti.istayfitpalm
Cool, the new app thing on palm/hp website is nice!
It has been there for some time. I don't think anyone uses it though :P
The istayfit was hard to find.
Nice ad, shows off the phone better. Quitea nice idea actually!
Great job HP! or rather, great job ad agency that this for HP...lol
I truly will miss the other tagline "Life Moves Fast. Don't Miss a Thing." but "Works like Nothing Else" is pretty unique in itself.
Great commercial. Given the short amount of time that was used, I think it did a nice job of showing what this tiny and powerful phone can do. My daughter (who I got this for) and I love the Veer so hopefully this gets the word out to folks that this is a worthy device, despite its small size.
yeah this is a decent start. although somewhat quick in the way the it portrays webos' features, im sure that having any kind of endorsement will help sell more of the products.
i'd like to see them take an approach similar to att vs. verizon iphone commercial, where the guy talks to his wife on the phone while he is at work and he forgets its their anniversary. he then is able to look up restaurants while still talking to her. it's taking a stab at verizon's inability to use both voice and data at the same time. the idea is simple, and the execution is playful.
still, webos' strength is the multitasking. people are beginning to catch on to the idea (mango), but if you can show some really nice real world examples of someone using that up close and personal, go for it.
Not a boxing fan in the least, but, darn, that is one very well done commercial!
:)
Nice ad but could of made the calendar app look more interesting. Like having it sync to different sources and show that accordion effect.
Ugh....here we go again showing nothing unique about WebOS aside from "cards", which of course have already been co-opted by Blackberry's Playbook ads.
I just don't think people use the smartphones their celebrity of choice uses. It didn't work for Nokia when they put their phones PROMINENTLY in katy perry videos. it didn't work for the MyTouch 3G when T-Mobile had 900 celebrities tapping like Manny does here. People tend to use the smartphones their friends and family use. Barring that, you have to show them why your product is different.
Sadly, it doesn't appear it takes much to impress people around here. Take some idiot celeb and have him hold up a Veer and everyone goes nuts.
But HP doesn't seem consistent. From targeting first time users, to changing this to "prosumers" at a whim. This commercial focuses on silly apps and video, not things 1st time buyers (lol) would likely buy the worlds smallest smartphone for.
HP still markets like an OEM. Or basically still acts as if someone like Microsoft is handling the platform & OS marketing.
Yeah, it's definitely schizoid. And it makes you wonder why these ads weren't on-air three weeks ago when the device was released? Clearly, they weren't waiting until the TouchPad launched because there is no mention of Touch-To-Share here.
So apparently there was no thinking whatsoever behind throwing it out in stores with no support. Big surprise there.
So just to sum up. Pre 3 is for business users. Smaller Pre 3 (Veer) is for first time dumb users. Both using form factors that have failed miserably in the recent past. The Touchpad combines both targeting dumb business users.
No wonder HP is paying celebs.
Did you two ever take the time to think that since the overwhelming majority (and it is truly overwhelming) of comments here are positive that maybe the ad actually was successful?
Not really. The same idiot cheerleaders loving this today actually cheered on Palm's past commercials. They're just excited to see any commercial at this point. This too will fail and they'll be back blaming bad marketing :)
If the youtube comments area is any indication, I think this ad is highly effective:
"where can i buy it i like it"
melvin042381 29 minutes ago
Whoa!!!! Awesome little phone!!!!! Just saw it on my AT&T store.....Love that Card view thing....
mambomambo2011 8 hours ago
Ok so maybe these are just our own folk here... time will tell.
Manny don't wear no skinny jeans! I love this commercial. It shows the product, the lovely stacking of the cards, love the speedbag sound in the background too.. gets me all pumped up. Plus everyone loves manny. hes just a good guy. Hes not a scumbag like half of the celebrities HP gives these freebies away too. Rob Lowe couldn't put a pimple on mannys behind. Good choice on this one HP!
Couldnt agree more. Nice choice. Come out 'fighting'
but clean!
great beginning. this is going to be a great summer. woohoo webOS.
Wow, THIS is the kind of WebOS advertising I've been waiting for since I got my Pre- on day 1. SO proud!!!
Exactly, me too. If they keep this up, and the TouchPad gets good reviews, and Pre 3 isn't released in the distant future, and they add Lady Gaga to the mix..........we may just get some traction here. webOS may get that market and mindshare after all.
LOVING this.
i think this is good advertising for a start. the symbolism behind having a fighter debut the first of probable many advertising videos. now HP needs to stay on the upward swing.
Kind of false advertising as that is NOT how cards work. They do not jump in/out that quickly, nor will video start that fast.
In "Screen and Lock" under "Advanced Gestures" you can set it to On for switching applications. Description reads "Swiping the entire length of the gesture area will switch to the next or previous app".
I think they probably made things like the video play fast and apps load right up for the sake of the length commercial.
They do if Manny tells them to! ;)
All advertising mediums have limited run time. They have to speed things up (such as video loading) to meet those demands and keep the flow of the message rolling. Every smart phone advertisement does this.
If you're watching a movie and someone has to go to the grocery store you really don't care about watching the actor get into the car, buckle his seat belt, back out of the driveway, walk into the store, etc. You just want the valuable part of the story.
I love the people who complain that all the spot shows "is the multitasking/cards." uhhh yeah... The most easily understood differentiator of your product's software. Were you hoping to instead highlight the swipe gestures? Or maybe the menus of the interface? That would have been scintillating. People, it's a freakin' 30 second spot. You can't demo every feature and spec of the phone. 30 second spots have to be simple simple simple. And HP does a pretty good job of communicating 3 things:
Small phone, multitasking/cards, and one of the greatest boxers of all time uses/likes it. It's One spot of what should be an overall WebOS/Pre3/Veer/TouchPad campaign, consisting of several spots. Give it a chance!
Unfortunely some people will never be satisfied.
First it was, ooooh HP is not markerting the veer.
Then the NY train poster came in, ohhhh HP is not doing it right.
Then the NY Times advertisement came in, ohhh the person's hand is too big.
Then an actual freaking commercial shows up, ohhh HP is not showing webOS properly.
SMFH, i wonder what's the next bs that some of these complaining losers are gonna come up with next LMAO.
Lately I love nothing better than to dis on HP but I'm pleasantly surprised. This is light years better than scary girl.
But when my contract is up I'm still planning on ending my 10+ history with Palm. The Veer is too small and the Pre3 better be out before my contract is up. HP needs to start occasionally exceed expectations and for this customer this means making good on the expectation that HP set to "make things right". There is no excuse for HP not attempting to make an effort and as us "legacy users" (as Ruby rudely called us) are really fanboys at heart we may not be that hard to please.
I want to see that HP better set customer expectations and have the execution to meet them else I'll purchase a device from a company that does.
LIGHTYEARS ahead of the Borg lady commercials - this will be good for the international market, and the US. I'd call it a good start.
How sad that I'm just happy there's a decent freaking commercial out. My how our expectations have been altered...
It was a nice touch for their first Veer ad to have Manny be the spokesman right out of the gate. It's hard to call the Veer a girl's phone when it's being endorsed by one of the toughest athletes on the planet! Learning from the Pixi and putting that issue to rest immediately - Way to go HP
not bad. tried to go to the hp.com/veer url at the end of the ad and got a page not found.
Bring back the hot urban chic, that was a ad I really liked.
Flick, Stack and Move between Active Apps. I like that line.
The only thing I don't like is the way they handled showing off it's keyboard. It was a very quick shot, and no jesture was shown of how it opens (they used editing). If you are not familiar with the Veer than you could easily miss this important feature.
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