Life has taken a turn for the surreal/creepy. Last night I shared an article with my Twitter followers announcing that Verizon has hired a teddy bear that Twitters as a spokesperson. This morning, I wake up to discover the teddy bear is now following me on Twitter and has responded to my Tweet.
Ever get that feeling like somebody is standing behind you, watching you?
In the PRWeek article, Verizon director of regional marketing Beth Mulhern explains that, "With the campaign, Verizon is trying to reach out to early adopters, thought leaders familiar with the technology, and families." But my favorite comment is what she says next:
“Families might not understand FiOS product and what it will do to their lives, but everyone knows what a teddy is.”
For the record, I now have a teddy bear following me, and I still don’t know what FiOS is. I did a quick Google search last night, and it has something to do with providing Internet, telephone and TV service via fiber optic cable. Maybe I should ask my teddy for more info.
I’m not a fan of criticizing ad/marketing campaigns, especially without speaking to the campaign’s creators, but this one is just weird. First, teddy bears appeal to kids, and I don’t know a lot of kids who use Twitter. If HAL the Psychopathic Verizon Bear wants to talk to kids, I hope he’s on Saturday morning cartoons, not just Twitter.
Second, Verizon rightly recognizes that families might not understand FiOS, but misses the fact that most families don’t know what Twitter is, either. Despite the microblogging platform’s surge in popularity, it remains a niche tool with a long way to go before mainstream awareness.
Finally, and most importantly, there’s the creepy factor. A teddy bear that speaks in an eerie robotic voice via text-to-speech capabilities gives me the heebie-jeebies. Seriously, did you see the bear’s website? I’m tempted to put it in my browser’s banned sites list.
But I don’t want to make the bear angry.