Nickname: kelly

Review: i agree with ellen its a fricken ad ok peoples im a teenager also and i dont like the whole idea of trying to manipulate ur parents into buying something for you. but not every teenager is like that and most of us acually have jobs to buy our own things with our own money and the teenagers who do use that stupid approach are just lame and spoilt rotten it doesnt automatically make us evil human beings. and yer the cut out phone thing is preety ridiculous but its damn funny just cant believe that virgin would pay for it to be aired if it has no effect????

Date reviewed: May 18, 2008 4:26 AM

Nickname: Ellen

Review: That's so funny!!!!!! You people take this so seriously! Come on it's a paper phone, it's a joke, stop analyzing it to death. As a teenage girl it makes me like Virgin Mobile more because they show a sense of humor, and that's something we like to see - it makes us analyze them less and just want to get the stupid phone.

Date reviewed: Nov 28, 2007 4:51 AM

Nickname: Voytech

Review: Most of the people that leave their opinions do not understand one simple fact. The Virgin mobile company doesn't have appeal to the Virgin phone users but to those who pay for them :) All the spoiled brats can cry as much as they want to but if their parents do not pay for the phone, then they will not get one.

Date reviewed: Jul 20, 2007 2:43 PM

Nickname: Byt

Review: As a marketer for more than 20 years I see an interesting reaction over the conflict that the campaign created. Our company is way ahead on the online business and would definitely use the insight of this company, but definitely not their creative side. They seem to definitely be able to know what does not work or "click" on teenage girls but moving to the next step of execution is where they fall short. As per the "Parental Enlightment" we would recommend changing it to a name that promotes communication channels and not means of pressure. That works on a few but not the vast majority of consumers.

Date reviewed: May 31, 2007 8:32 PM

Nickname: Ew

Review: I'm a young teenager and iIthink the idea of the fake phone in the ad is a very good one. It is amusing and clever. Teens skip boring ads and won't even look at them so with this ad they do. Although many of us teens would not actually try to guilt our parents into buying a phone for us using that method we may have a joke with our parents for a bit of fun.

Date reviewed: Dec 9, 2005 9:35 PM

Nickname: EK

Review: I can pretty much tell that everyone who has posted here went through their teen years when Howdy-Doody and Lucy were the funniest thing going. Most teenagers are savvy ad readers who will appreciate the humor of the ad, and the echoing of the us-against-them mentality that so many teens feel but don't act on. Teens today are well-versed in the ironic, deadpan humor of Ali G, Will Ferrell, and Jack Black. I guarantee that anyone who's decrying these "manipulative" ads doesn't even know who those people are.

Date reviewed: Dec 2, 2005 11:08 PM

Nickname: Cathy

Review: Believe it or not my 13 year old daughter actually used the fake cell phone in the ad to try to guilt me into purchasing a cell phone for her. It didn't work, but I thought the advertising approach was extremely clever.

Date reviewed: Nov 30, 2005 7:41 PM

Nickname: ~ART~

Review: It is the natural tendency of teenagers to be at odds with their parents. It's part of growing up. Part of a teenager's natural inclination to separate from their parents. Virgin is simply playing off of this already inherent tendency. Teens will know whether or not they can use these techniques to get over on their parents (yes, it's sad but true that some parents will actually allow themselves to be guilted into purchases by their whining kids). But even if the kids know that these techniques wont work on their parents they will feel more connected to Virgin Mobile because they will get that Virgin Mobile is speaking to them. That sort of brand connectedness is probably far more valuable, long term, than any immediate ROI they would get from convincing parents to buy a phone for their kids.

Date reviewed: Nov 21, 2005 5:55 PM

Nickname: NR

Review: I don't think the ad is to be used literally. The thing a teen might respond to is that Virgin is appearing to understand what a teen might be thinking in their head already. Unlike so many generic marketing stratgies, this one is eye catching and relatable to the audience. If it is wrong to encourage teens "ploy" or to guilt their parents into buying them something, then A) Maybe we should stop advertising to teens at all (ridiculous) or B) We should all note the parents that give in are suckers for caving in and would have done so anyway, with or without "help" from the ad.

Date reviewed: Nov 18, 2005 8:09 PM

Nickname: CN

Review: That is just downright disrespectful. It's sad that Virgin has to stoop to that level to sell their products. When your marketing approach is having children guilt their parents into buying their product, it tells me that they don't feel they can rely on the quality of their product. I also don't understand why companies would spend so much money to market to teens when, in most cases, it's the parents that will be buying the product. I know they have to make the teen want it, but if they were smart, they would make the parents realize that having a cell phone could save their child's life if they were ever in danger, or that the iPod could have an educational value, such as broadcasting the wonderful Podcasts from BusinessWeek. Though many parents would see through those approaches, I can't imagine many are dumb enough to fall for the paper cut-out cell phone either.

Date reviewed: Nov 12, 2005 9:57 PM