[dbollman423]

Forbes-

The irony could be effective indeed if Research in Motion’s Super Bowl ad raps Apple with the same sort of “Big Brother” treatment that Apple threw at the PC-dominated world with one of the most-remembered Big Game ads of all time: its “1984″ commercial during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII on CBS that introduced the Macintosh computer.

This delicious possibility could make BlackBerry’s ad one of the most-anticipated of Super Bowl XLVII on CBS, on February 3.

The intent of Apple’s iconoclastic ad back in January, 1984, was to thumb its nose at digital conformity. It did the trick: The commercial put Apple on the map, generating millions of dollars worth of free publicity, the very epitome of a buzz creator before the internet era. It never aired again, but Advertising Age named “1984″ as its Commercial of the Decade for the 1980s.

Isn’t that the sort of thing that RIM must pull off in order to persuade some portion of the slavish legions of iPhone users to take a chance on a brand that was a pioneer in smartphones — and now seeks to be a pioneer again? One of the few reasons there might be the slightest hope for BlackBerry’s actual success in this endeavor is growing concerns among iPhone aficionados about rising prices for the device so many people find absolutely indispensible – and a resulting slackening of demand.

BlackBerry’s market share has dwindled to practically nothing, of course, in the wake of the recent multi-year onslaught by Apple, Google and Samsung on the smartphone market and previous inability of management of the Canada-based company to keep up. The days when RIM’s device was called “CrackBerry” seem like ancient history now.

Yet the new generation of leadership of RIM executives have been maintaining that the 10 — with an all-new modus operandi as well as hardware — not only is the company’s last chance but also a game-changer. They’re scheduled to reveal details on January 31.

“A Super Bowl commercial is a great opportunity to show the redesigned, re-engineered and reinvented BlackBerry to tens of millions of consumers on the largest advertising stage of the year,” RIM CMO Frank Boulben said in a statement. The company already staged a takeover of the home page of the New York Times online in December.

A social-media campaign is slated to run alongside the commercial and will include promoted posts on Twitter and sponsored stories on Facebook running through the game.

There’s no hint at this moment of what RIM’s creative approach to this ad might be. But it wouldn’t be a total shock to see some brunette hurling a sledgehammer at a huge enlargement of a screen that could resemble, oh, an iPhone’s?

[TBone4eva]

That would have worked if RIM was a new up and coming company. However, RIM dominated the smartphone market and then got beat at their own game. If they try going after Apple like that, it will backfire and RIM will just look like sore losers trying to play catch up. Consumers already know that Apple has become what they were against in that 1984 ad. What RIM needs to do is show them a viable alternative not as playing catch up, but as a leap beyond Apple and Android.

[kbz1960]

I think they need to leave other platforms out of it. Just show they are back with a vengeance.

[Goint]

That would have worked if RIM was a new up and coming company. However, RIM dominated the smartphone market and then got beat at their own game. If they try going after Apple like that, it will backfire and RIM will just look like sore losers trying to play catch up. Consumers already know that Apple has become what they were against in that 1984 ad. What RIM needs to do is show them a viable alternative not as playing catch up, but as a leap beyond Apple and Android.

Exactly, way too much risk of negative feedback the next day. Show up and impress is what the doctor prescribes.

[Superfly_FR]

If they do that (your title), they must go easy ... But a Kubrick's "2001 space odyssey Monolyth" ... *yay* : would make my heart beat.
Riddley V.S Stanley ... what a (2nd degree) match !

[Bold_until_Hybrid_Comes]

They need to spend all 30 seconds. Showing what blackberry 10 can do. Not what others can't do. Not enough time.

[Geeoff]

One key factor to remember: The Superbowl is very big in the United States, but no so much elsewhere. Thus, this commercial will targeted towards the audience in the United States.

In the States their market share is very, very low. It actually can't go much lower without Blackberry disappearing. So this is the time for a "Hail Mary" pass. They should go big, bold, and controversial. Now is not the time for Blackberry to play it safe in that market.

I am not saying they need to do a '1984' ad, but they should be a little bit edgey. Controversy will get people talking about Blackberry, and that is what they want. Apple tried to pull the original '1984' ad because they thought it would be too controversial, but they were too late. In hindsight, it was a good time to stir things up! Now Blackberry is in a similar position to where Apple was.

Of course, this is all a moot discussion because the commercial is already filmed. But I do hope that they have shown it to LOTS of test audiences first! This could be a key moment for RIM.

[playbookster]

I hope they can get a lot out of a 30 second ad.. most Superbowl ads are 60 seconds.

[cmj91987]

I agree. Rim should not approach from a position of weakness. after all Blackberry was the original ruler of the smartphones... in the beginning. I think that the commercial, and Rim's attitude in general should reflect what the situation truly is, and that is of an exiled king, returning to claim the throne that is rightfully his. And, yes, because of his royal stature and regalness, the enemies do not need to be dignified by mentioning their names, but, of course, the Iphodels and the Robot Armies from the West will have to be vanquished, sooner ...or later. Then, and only then, will the masses benefit from royal decrees that will provide an abundance of SECURITY, APPlied technologieS, and robust jousting GAMES. No more, will the king turn a deaf ear to the pleas of his subjects. Yes, he is smarter, faster, and stronger than ever, with an army, from the North, ready to strike. Just waiting...We all are waiting. In 2 days the wait will be over. ALL... HAIL... BLACKBERRY!!!

[Trevor Franks]

They should use Usain Bolt or whatever his name is lol. The fastest man on earth in a matchup with the fastest web browsing phone on earth!

[Jtaylor1986]

That commercial is really dumb imo.

[Bold_until_Hybrid_Comes]

They should use Usain Bolt or whatever his name is lol. The fastest man on earth in a matchup with the fastest web browsing phone on earth!

this claim needs to be put to rest until further testing can be done. The HTML 5 score is not an indicator of speed. Let alone deeming a browser the fastest. I do however SUSPECT it is the fastest browser

[Jonesy1966]

I was watching a documentary the other day called something like "Rise of the Nerds" or "Revenge of the Nerds" and Apple's "1984" was shown and it struck me as rather ironic.

I must say, being 18 at the time, that ad certainly struck a chord with me, although I didn't even clue in it was for Apple at the time.

[aniym]

I don't think a 1984 style ad taking on the big players is a good idea. Motorola tried it in 2011 with a big Superbowl ad for the Xoom, the first major Android tablet running the new 3.0 OS version. it got OK reviews but basically failed completely in the tablet market against the iPad and iPad 2.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

[gjohnsto]

... Show something like the 1984 ad playing on the new Z10, then right before the hammer smashes the glass, camera does a quick pan to show the red light blink - and bam - dive into peek and flow, and flow through device features - end of the commercial is the user flowing back to the hammer smashing the glass.

[gjohnsto]

... Except for office drones, use hipster drones wearing toques (beanies) inside with black plastic rim glasses and terrible facial hair all with white iphones with earpods in.... Ughhhhhhhhh.... Hipsters....

[jesse_h]

For those interested... This is the AD from 1984.

[stickyiki]

They need to have a snippet of the song 'Mama Said Knock You Out' by LL Cool J, specifically at the part where he says "Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years" and "I'm gunna knock you out" (in this case, the competition)