Commentary: A look back at how tech companies tried to communicate in 2017 offers many sobering moments. And some that boggle the mind.
A lot of work to be done.
Communication has rarely been tech companies‘ strong point.
Many prefer you to do it, rather than bother themselves with its dastardly nuances.
Still, a look across the ways tech brands tried to stir emotions this year reveals a little more of the bad than the good.
One thing almost every tech company was keen on this year was to show its politically correct credentials.
This effort was sometimes less than whole when reality bit.
Then it emerged that Audi’s six-person executive team enjoyed precisely zero female members .
Some managed to present their politically progressive stances with more success.
Redmond could, however, only boast modest diversity gains. You know, in real life.
Stepping outside of the socio-political realm, very few tech ads moved to the heavens.
This was the one in which it suggested Apple has been an utter incompetent for the last 10 years, as the iPhone has always been behind the times.
It’s a wonder Apple has survived at all, isn’t it?
Perhaps this ad reassured Samsung owners and reminded people that the company existed in the middle of so much iPhone X hype.
It was enjoyable, but I still wonder whether viewers saw through the cracks. After all, when the iPhone first came out, Samsung phones weren’t exactly the apogee of sexy.
To launch „Call of Duty: World War II,“ it offered a tale of those who used to game together coming back for one last fling.
There were no battles, no shooting, no killing, no aggression (save for someone being kicked out of a pub in the UK version). It was all refreshingly uplifting and amusing.
I’ve delayed the not so good for as long as I could. There were many.
Apple still seems to struggle in creating something fresh and inventive. No, I’m not talking about the products. I mean the ads.
It turned out to be a long ad that didn’t make the thumbs even twitch, never mind go up.
Somehow, though, two campaigns placed themselves in my craw and stayed to the point that they got in the way of my swallowing all my pierogi at Christmas.
Oddly, both came from Facebook.
The second-worst campaign of the year wasn’t a series of ads that ran on YouTube. It was a series of meetings that happened live, all over America.
I refer to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wandering around America trying to meet real human beings .
This sadly choreographed attempt at getting down with the people served only to emit an unctuousness I’ve not endured since a Neiman Marcus salesman tried to foist upon me a silk cravat.
Here was Mark on a farm. There was Mark meeting firemen. Some may have voted for Donald Trump.
It was all about as sincere and spontaneous as a bag of monkey nuts.
Which is why my Worst Ad of The Year also featured Zuckerberg. It showed that he — and by extension Facebook — has learned little from his tour about how to treat and appeal to real humans.
I confess that I stared at it in pained disbelief.
As their avatars casually gazed over images of Puerto Rico’s hurricane devastation, the two executives merrily chatted about the coolness of VR. They even high-fived.
This was gross in its myopia and hideous in its attempt to make Facebook seem somehow, oh, what exactly? Progressive?
I trust, however, that your next year will be bounteously civilized and filled with excellent human feelings.
Thank you for all your emails and messages, even the ones that told me to get a [insert expletive here] life.
I’m trying. Honestly, I’m trying.
