Has anyone seen that Verizon ad, to the tune of the old Mike and the Mechanics song “All I Need is a Miracle”?
The guy in the commercial starts out by lamenting that his girlfriend is pissed at him, or something, and then spends the next few days leaving 17 messages on her answering machine, emailing her hundreds of pictures of himself, sending notes and flowers, and hanging around her apartment building.
The last scene of the commercial is the girlfriend turning up at his door, all lovey-dovey and ready to take him back.
Now, i’m sure that the people who wrote this just wanted to emphasize the strength of love in the face of adversity, but that sort of behavior is a little to close to stalking for my liking.
I get the impression that someone may have suggested this to Verizon, because the ad originally had the girlfriend’s answering machine saying something like “You have 17 new messages,” but now that line has been cut.
Anyway, i think it’s a bit fucked up when a commercial for a phone company suggests that harrassment, using all electronic means of communication at your disposal, is a good way to get your girlfriend back.
I’ve seen the ad, and I was considering starting a Pit thread on the same topic. The thing is, there’s another ad, I think for Polaroid where a fellow sends a girl instant photo after instant photo of himself, even standing outside her door and slipping them under it until she finally caves in and takes him back.
I’m sorry, but if a fellow used saturation bombing tactics like these ads used to try to get me back, I suspect I’d be rather freaked out and even less likely to do so.
Attention Madison Avenue: stalker-like behaviour is neither cute, sexy, nor an indication of devotion! To me, it’s creepy and an indication that the fellow has more issues than I do!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the Polaroid commercial end with the girl coming up from behind him (because she’d been down in the laundry room) and catching him in the act of sliding the pix under the door.
He has a pretty mortified “oh, shit” expression and she does not look happy at all. I’ve never seen a version where she takes him back. I’ve only seen the commercial go to the point where he’s all hunched over on the floor by her door like a pathetic loser and she’s towering over him like she’s going to crush his skull with the laundry basket.
The Verizon ad sounds quite creepy. Haven’t seen it.
What’s even worse about the Polaroid one is that the guy is simulating crying by putting drops in his eye. And yeah, I’ve seen the version with her inside, too. Grr.
Although it may be a creepy situation overall, I must give mad props (did I just type that?) to the actress who plays the girlfriend in the Verizon ad, since she manages to convey about six different emotions when he opens the door to find her there. I think she does an outstanding job, and I wish I knew who she was and if she’s done any more serious work.
Anyway, since the sina qua non of stalkerdom is the stalker being told, clearly and unambiguously, that his attentions are unwelcome, I prefer to think that these two merely had a fight, not a break-up, and that she’s merely ignoring him, as opposed to being in restraining-order territory.
I think I like this comment. Where does wooing end and stalking begin? If one wants to win someone back, one does not just do nothing. Seems like any extra attention can be interpreted as stalking now. And yes - I know it happens - I know it’s a problem - I know there are people out there who are dangerous - but there’s also a lot of overreaction.
I never really thought about stalking when I saw that Verizon ad, I just thought it was utterly stupid. Now that I think about it though, it’s a pretty strange ad.
I’d didn’t think it was scary stalker behavior so much as pathetic groveling behavior. Maybe because the song is so dismally vapid. “All I need is a miracle, all I need is you”?
Now the guy’s offense might have merited pathetic groveling, who knows? But singing retarded songs and sending a fax that says only “I’m sorry” betrays a lack of eloquence and reasoning ability that makes me think the girl should move on to someone who can frame a more coherent rationale for getting back together than the electronic equivalent of sad puppy eyes.
World Eater – that commercial isn’t nearly as bad as the one for some other noxious stew that features a mailroom clerk doing a half-assed job of delivering mail – flipping fragile packages left and right. Then he heads to the head honcho’s office who turns out to be a fabulous babe (and obviously the reason why he can do the half-assed job) who delivers the punch line, “Nice package.”
That one fails the "would this commercial be vile if the sex roles were reversed?" test in the worst possible way.