Hello! I’ve written quite a bit about iPhone commercials. If you’d like, check out my Popular TV Ads page to read up on those ads and lots more. The latest iPhone commercial I’ve seen features rapper/entertainer Common and his alter ego Reflection Common. Mirror jokes never get old, I guess!
Common sits down for a beard trim but the barber has to step away. The barber sets his phone down and Common takes notice of the titanium phone. Take a look at the ad. Does anything peculiar happen?
That’s Gonna Be A ‘No’ From Me, Dawg. The barber in the commercial leaves his phone in a way many people do these days, face down. It’s a polite, and common, way to tell people you don’t want them seeing what’s on your phone. In other words, no touchy touchy. So what does Common do? Touchy touchy, of course. He Ignores social etiquette and grabs the dang phone! As someone commented on YouTube, “Who the hell just picks up someone else’s phone like that?”
Yes. Exactly.
I think it’s rude even for family members to brazenly pick up each other’s phones without asking, and it definitely comes across as borderline cavalier to do that with someone you’re only acquaintances with (ie. your barber, neighbor, Uber driver). The only script revision needed was for Common to ask the barber if he can check it out. The barber can say, “Sure, man,” “Yes,” or something lighthearted like, “Yeah, just don’t call China.” OK, that’s a dad joke from a bygone era but you get the point. It’s an easy fix for a glaring problem.
How do you feel about the commercial? Should T-Mobile have thought twice about having Common pick up the barber’s phone or is that something we should let slide?
-Out of the Wilderness
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