Introducing the Pomegranate Phone: A mobile phone, mp3 player, gps system, internet, global voice translator, camera, video player, movie projector, coffee brewer, razor and harmonica in one!
Okay, before you get too excited and start scouring the net for release dates, tech specs and availability, it's not an actual product but an ad campaign ruse launched on October 1st, 2007.
A well-produced false product introduction complete with hilarious video vignettes by Journeyman Films, tech specs, accessories and more, this micro site is a wily subterfuge to introduce you to Nova Scotia's Come To Life tourism campaign, positioning the province as the venue that has a lot to offer.
The micro site is impressively designed and filled with all the demos and charts you'd expect from an actual tech product introduction. Even the voice over and music (by Windom Earle) are great.
However, marketing critics are calling the campaign a bust. (Update: this post has consistently been the most widely read and searched for post on my blog since this campaign broke and still is one full year later - editor)
Jeff White of Brightwhite says:
"Viral marketing is great, but the fact that Nova Scotia taxpayers have spent $300,000 to foot the bill for this campaign is a shame. Next to no one will have any idea that this even is a site about Nova Scotia. And those that do find this more or less hidden link feel cheated.
So, even though lots of people will forward the site to their friends, very few will get to the true nature of what it's trying to say and that makes this a very expensive experiment. You only need to read what people are saying on Twitter to see that the general opinion is that this campaign bombs."
Nevertheless, I applaud Novia Scotia for trying something bold and new and without all the actual media placement info, et cetera, I, personally, will refrain from hypothesizing about why it may or may not have succeeded. Besides, it's too soon to tell and I have yet to locate actual stats as far as visitors, etc.
But I will show you some screen grabs, because whether or not the site is driving interest in Nova Scotia, it deserves kudos for imaginative thinking, clever copy, nice design and wonderful videos.
As a coffee maker:
As a razor or shaver:
As a movie projector:
As a voice translator:
As a harmonica:
They even included faux 'goodies' such as a a lucite holder, speaker system and t-shirts:
If you don't respect it as an attempt to be a 'viral' campaign (which, by the way, is not something you can set out to do, but instead a campaign may become 'viral' if one is lucky), at least take a look at it for entertainment.
credits: The campaign was produced by Bristol Group, Egg Films/Hatch, and Breathe Media.
* Art Director: Dan Couto
* Copy writer/creative director: Albert Ianni
* Production Manager: Collette Snow
* Designers: Andrew Grantham, Michael Gatto
* Internal Programmer: Melissa Castle
* External programmers/designers: Breathe Media
* Production/Post: Egg Films/Hatch Post
* Actors/Models: Christopher Killam, Lita Lewellen, John Beale, Laura Bleasdale, Andrea Wilson, Pasha, and others
Special thanks to Alex Asher Sears!
The Pomegrante Phone
If you are a fan of clever 'misdirects', you'll love the TATTOO YOUR HEART site for the launch of Vikunja. See that here.