Sunday, March 22, 2015

Ads for Amazon Fire HD Tablets

I find these ads for Amazon Fire HD Tablets to be interesting. The point of these ads is to demonstrate the durability of the tablet - but I find myself distracted by the actions of the users and more mindful of the disastrous scenarios averted that have little to do with damage to an electronic device.

For example, in this first commercial, I'm more relieved that this distracted woman didn't hit the kid on the skateboard than her tablet being okay:


In this next ad, this guy is lucky he didn't fall down the stairs or that his tablet didn't maim his poor dog at the bottom:



If these ad execs intended for me to be relieved that the tablet was not damaged, they should not have featured scenarios involving competing higher stakes. Instead of impressing upon me the durability of the Amazon tablet, I find myself thinking that these people are better off without the tablets in the first place, realizing the havoc they could wreak on themselves and those around them who are far more fragile. 

I noted this phenomenon in the first commercial and was surprised to see this issue repeated in the second, which inspired this blog post. It's odd to me that these tech users would be featured as not only irresponsible, but also more concerned about the damage to their devices and thereby inconsiderate and oblivious to the more meaningful dangers they narrowly missed. There are far better ways to sell the product while still conveying the message of its durability. 

What do Tic Tacs have to do with commuting?

As far as I know, nothing. This commercial didn't help enlighten me. Popping Tic Tac mints would possibly alleviate bad breath, but not a long work commute. I don't get commercials like these that attempt to make connections that make no sense to be made in order to sell the product. Are people seriously going to buy Tic Tacs because they think of how it will make their morning commutes more bearable? Was someone actually paid to come up with this concept? That's even more perplexing.