The Droid’s 'Stealth' ad war

The new ad for Verizon's Droid smartphone — hitting stores nationwide tomorrow — is provoking both excitement and debate. In the “Stealth” ad, a big-budget spot reminiscent of an Independence Day movie trailer, fighter jets unleash mysterious Droid-containing capsules on rural America, suggesting a hostile invasion is underway. Are consumers supposed to love the Droid or fear it? (Watch Verizon’s new Droid commercial featuring stealth bombers)

The Droid is aiming to be "macho": While Apple's iPhone is all about gender-neutral hipness and cleverness, the Droid "seems to be setting itself up to be the peculiar love child of a union between Chuck Liddell and The Rock," says Chris Matyszczyk at CNET. But will women "gravitate to its charms? Or is Motorola carving an image for the Droid that consists entirely of chewing tobacco and gunning to the top?"

"iPhone vs Droid: Toy boy vs. boy's toy?"

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This over-the-top spot makes no sense: For all its cinematic pretensions, the new ad doesn't tell consumers much about the phone," says Mark Walsh at Mobile Marketing Daily. The head-to-head comparisons in the "Droid Does" commercial were actually informative, so why not stick with that theme, demonstrating more concretely in ads how the Droid is a better phone?"

"New Droid ad targets audience, not iPhone"

The ad is irresistible — for now: This is just a CGI stunt, but it's "very cool nonetheless,” says Dave Freeman at Mobile Crunch. The risk is that Verizon will overplay it — but with just a few days left before the Droid debuts, “we’ll probably be okay.”

"New Motorola Droid commercial drops"