Boo Hoo For You: Symbian mocks Western smartphones

by Darren Murph posted May 17th 2007 at 1:19AM

It's no secret that cellphone manufacturers and carriers alike are getting quite crafty with their marketing approaches, but Symbian went straight for the low-blow with its Boo-Hoo campaign. Frankly, the site (and more specifically, the Boo-Hoo For You video) slams the Western smartphone for not being as "technically capable" as the Symbian phones overseas, but we're not quite sure we're following all the slighting. Aside from being a bit weirded out by a talking Pac-man lookalike and a hump-backed eraser, we're not so sure that Big Brother being right there on your cellphone at all times is actually a perk. Additionally, e-wallets and cellphone-based ticketing aren't exactly Symbian exclusives, and having the nerve to actually flaunt an "aroma phone" just about nixes any and all credibility this wacky cartoon had left. Nevertheless, we're sure this here promo was intended less for informative purposes and more for water-cooler jabbing, so click on through to see what the fuss is all about. [Warning: Psychedelic video could induce epilepsy]

[Via S60, thanks Stefan C.]

Filed under: Handsets, Multimedia, Symbian, Misc

Tags: ad, advertiser, advertising, aroma phone, AromaPhone, boo-hoo, boohooforyou, Culture, e-wallet, marketing, smartphone, smellophone

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Dustin @ May 17th 2007 2:11AM

Yeah, I'm crying all the way from here to Tokyo.

We must be so sad here in the West that our suicide rate is half of yours. BOO HOO FOR YOU!

Neutral

Al @ May 17th 2007 2:23AM

Hmmm,

High suicide rate, ultra cool tech, robots and awesome toilets

or

Idiot president, locked down phones, and a moral majority holding tech back

Japan clearly wins

I'll take ultra cool tech please.

Neutral

George @ May 17th 2007 2:28AM

Symbian put this out? Making fun of the "Western phone"? I think their marketing people are on crack.

Last I check, there's ONE. Yes, ONE Nokia Symbian phone (N73) shipping in Japan via Softbank Mobile. DoCoMo and KDDI are both CDMA in Japan and they don't ship any Symbian phones. Symbian has dinky tiny market share in Japan.

So, Symbian. Are you saying, us Western use Symbian will make us super cool like the JPN? But the JPN don't use Symbian on their phone.

Btw, I think the hump-backed erase is a unagi sushi.

Neutral

Rich @ May 17th 2007 4:19AM

Errr... you're wrong George. Two thirds of NTT DoCoMo's FOMA range is Symbian. NTT DoCoMo FOMA service is based on WCMDA.

Neutral

Frant @ May 17th 2007 7:30AM

George, check this out
http://www.symbian.com/news/pr/2007/pr20079053.html
all in all there're 55 Symbian Phones were released in Japan

Neutral

Corrupt @ May 17th 2007 7:21AM

That is so funny. I like the downloadable ring tone.

Neutral

Kent Pribbernow @ May 17th 2007 10:22AM

Yes, boo hoo for us. All these "cool" Symbian smartphones in the global market, out of my reach, and I'm stuck with this lousy iPhone. Oh the horror!

Neutral

Andrew @ Jul 31st 2007 8:35PM

yes, I would cry if I was stuck with a Crapple iPhone too. Fortunately, it blends.

Neutral

beanspants @ May 17th 2007 1:16PM

next time someone says that "Japanese phones are way more advanced that US phones", i'm gonna show them that and laugh in their face.

Neutral

Andrew @ Jul 31st 2007 8:35PM

Agreed.

Neutral

egoviri @ May 17th 2007 3:28PM

I wasn't aware of this "moral" majority holding tech back, is there something that I am missing?

Neutral

shaun189 @ May 23rd 2007 12:04PM

funny!!!

Highly Ranked

Sk01 @ Jun 8th 2007 12:04PM

Wow Dustin, so it's ok for the west to mock something about the japanese like they do quite frequently and laugh at it. And once Japan does something you get your panties in a bunch.