Written by: Adam Christianson
Categories: Cool Stuff, Random Thoughts
Those of you who are old enough will maybe remember the 80’s hit Jenny by Tommy Tutone. The song repeated over and over again 8675309, the supposed phone number of a fictitious girl named Jenny. Back then the song drove anyone across the nation with that phone number nuts as they were overwhelmed by annoying random phone calls.
Today, most movies, TV shows, songs, commercials, etc. use a “555” number to avoid this type of issue. So imagine how strange it was for me last night when I saw one of Apple’s latest iPhone 3G ads prominently featuring what looked like a legitimate phone number. In the new Work Friendly ad for the iPhone 3G there is a point when they display a contact entry for Scott Frankel and right there in the middle of the screen is an actual (408) phone number. Two actually, because there is also a bad edit in the middle where the screen magically changes mid-shot and adds a second “office” number. After my initial shock wore off I began to wonder. Why would Apple use a “real” number in an iPhone ad? Was this simply a mistake by the ad agency? A clever marketing campaign? I could see by the zip code it was a Cupertino number, so was this a secret hotline into Apple’s headquarters? Well, any Mac geek can probably guess what I did next. Of course. I grabbed my own iPhone and started dialing.
The first number, Scott’s “mobile”, simply had a call failure each time I tried it. The second “work” number went straight into a generic voicemail box. Now, I didn’t leave a message, but I have to wonder what would happen if you did. What is the point of all this? Is there a point? In the back of my mind I was kind of hoping this was a great viral marking scheme and the start of some cool iPhone/Apple treasure hunt like the kind of campaigns the folks over at Mac Heist have crafted in the past. But alas, it doesn’t appear to be so. Seems like a missed opportunity. Truth is, it’s probably just a prank on some poor unsuspecting intern who works at Apple. This guy is now wondering why he gets like 3,000 voice mails a day and why the folks in marketing snicker at him as he shuffles out of his cubicle each day to go have lunch. Maybe he should give Jenny a call and see if she’s available to join him?
Do you try his email address?
Strange that they use a gmail address and not a me.com addy.
I did call the number and left a voicemail!
It’s not a bad edit… it’s showing off the push features… that’s why the contact changed in real-time.
This is really interesting article. I wonder how did they let this one pass?
Moreover, I also would have wished that there would be some “easter egg” for those who call to the number.
The email when I tried to make it was already used. I emailed him, haven’t got a response yet.
Neither of the numbers worked for me.
I also tried emailing. No delivery failure notification but no reply either.
From the look of the screen shots they show, this is going to be one very useful and great iPhone/iPod Touch app!
it worked fine for me when i tried it.
You know, I totally remember the song and I tried the number when I was a kid…Funny you write this post because I saw the commercial and I said, holy smack….I wonder if people are seeing the number and are calling it!
You totally read my mind! :)
Sandy
It’s pretty amazing at what people do right? They see a phone number, and have to call it just to see…
On the flip side, I was watching a telethon recently when the person kept giving the wrong number on the air. Can you imagine how many people ended up getting called by accident, and how many lost donations were the result?
Yeah but when a number is in a hit song then it’s not even a close comparison. That jenny tune was a huge hit and that damn number happened to be the hook of the song. you could say it went viral. That got extra juice! lol… Think about it, who else is going to call a number they see or hear in a song? Just friggen kids right?
I just sent an email….I doubt I will get a response – but it’s fun to try :) Off to call the number.
I love my new iphone. It is super cool, can get on the internet and everything. They just keep making the toys better and better these days!
Looking forward to upgrading my iPhone to get the new copy/paste feature.
Now that is what I call an excellent post, thanks…
I just picked up an iPhone this last week and I love it! I thought that I would never give up my blackberry, but I have no regrets!
Hah! Poor guy is probably unable to use his number/ email address ever again. Its funny that so many people call these things. I guess its the exact reason they use 555 in all movies now.
Nice blog!