You don't often see a company using the theme song to another commercial for the theme song in their commercial, but that's what Verizon is doing in this spot. It's the jingle from old Big Red gum commercials. I think it was used in the '80s and maybe into the '90s, but it's funny to see it used for a completely different product.

After the jump, the original (yes, that's Peter Billingsley). It's funny how they didn't just grab the theme song they reproduced scenes from the original spot (though I bet a lot of people wouldn't even had remembered those scenes in the old ad without seeing it again).

What would have if some Saw-like serial killer was killing TV commercial icons? That's the premise of the video below. It looks like a movie trailer but it's really an ad for an event called Night of the Adeaters, a party that's going to be held in various cities on September 25, celebrating the best in ads.

[via Adfreak]

Verizon is planning to package FiOS TV and Internet service with its wireless cell phone services. All I can say is, it's about time.

If I may go off on a rant here for a moment, I actually investigated getting FiOS installed in my house. Verizon didn't even have a fiber optic cable anywhere near me that they could run to my building. And I live only a few miles from Manhattan.

Despite that, by offering a set fee for both FiOS and cell phone service, Verizon is providing something that cable competitors can't duplicate. It's a smart move on the part of the company. Since I already have Verizon Wireless, I can only wish that they got off their lazy asses and laid some more fiber optic around my neighborhood.

In the meanwhile, I'm stuck with my sadly deficient cable company (satellite isn't an option due to the nature of my condominium). For those who have FiOS, how is it? Would you be excited about packaging that with your cell phone service?

You've seen the commercial below. It's a Comcast ad that takes on Verizon FIOS by saying that FIOS costs more, doesn't have as much HD as Comcast, and is filled with too many lame videos.

Last night I watched the commercial again (for the 4000th time) and I noticed that they've changed the ending. The FIOS guy used to say "I'm going to write down your credit card number which I memorized when I was looking..." I always thought that was an odd line, pretty much insinuating that a Verizon rep would take someone's credit card number like that. But they've now taken that line out and replaced it with something else (though the new line escapes me at the moment - anyone?). I wonder if Verizon complained?

Some random thoughts about current commercials.

Verizon FiOS: I think the cable guy is going to murder the FiOS guy in a future ad. I just feel it coming.This isn't just professional jealousy on the part of the cable guy (helpfully labeled "cable" on his work shirt), this is real hatred. The economy is going bad, we're moving to digital television, and this guy is only going to take so much from Verizon.

Verizon Communications is hoping to have its FiOS TV service available to customers in New York City within the next two months. This would be a tremendous boon to those who subscribe to cable, as suddenly the choice for providers will increase from solely Time Warner.

From the article: "Verizon spokesman John Bonomo said the city's Franchise and Concession Review Committee had given the green light to the video service, which is delivered along with high-speed Internet over an all-fiber network and is meant to compete with cable television."

So, we've already discussed the AT&T GoPhone commercial featuring Norm Macdonald and Steve Buscemi as gingerbread men. Now, let's talk about another one of my favorite holiday-themed cell phone commercials that I enjoy it so much because it sends a simple message to all of the little girls out in the world: never ask for a pony for Christmas.

In this ad for Verizon, which you will see after the jump, three teens (?) are talking about what they got for Christmas. Two of them received some stylish cell phones, and the third received a very angry, and hungry, pony (actually, according to some, it is a miniature horse) that seems to like to bite its owner. The reason this commercial tickles my fancy is that it the humor is so subtle. It moves in a conversational and natural manner that makes you want to see it every time it appears. Plus, it's one of those ads that makes you focus on the actors' faces because of the reactions they have to a pony eating the roof of a dog house.

NBC's 30 Rock makes fun of the network, television in general and, in at least a few instances, product integration. Product integration is the new way to get advertising money that's becoming more and more popular. The Office blatantly refers to real corporations like Staples all the time and football has John Madden's scribbles sponsored by someone now. Well, on a recent episode of Rock, Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin blatantly praised Verizon Wireless in a brief exchange before Fey turned to the camera and said directly, "Can we have our money now?"

Funny and lucrative apparently, as Yahoo! reports today that this was a real case of product integration, with Verizon paying for the "commercial" which at the same time was making fun of the very thing they were doing which ... wow, this gets confusing.

According to Engadget, Verizon is planning to expand its FiOS television service by launching an additional 150 HD channels by the end of 2008. The service has been experiencing bandwidth limitations that have prevented this from happening previously.

Franky. I think FiOS has more problems than just bandwidth limitations. It also suffers from a limited market. I tried ordering the service from Verizon and discovered it didn't reach my apartment building yet. I live in a fairly populated area near New York City, so I found this surprising.

While adding more HD channels is a noble objective, I think Verizon should also work on trying to get their service out to more customers and be a better competitor to cable. Does anybody out there use Verizon FiOS? If so, what do you think of the service?

Dave Zatz is continuing his investigative reporting on the next generation of Verizon's FiOS TV. A few months back Zatz uncovered some of the basic features included in the update. Now he's back with an in-depth look at Verizon's broadband television service.

First up, Verizon is turning the FiOS TV set top boxes into media extenders. You can already access photos and music from any PC on your home network. The next generation of this technology will let you stream video. And we mean pretty much any video, including MPEG4, DiVX, Flash, and so on. Verizon's software will transcode the video to MPEG2 on the fly for playback on your TV.

Verizon also plans to improve its mobile scheduling service, which lets you set recordings on your cellphone. You can browse a program guide, set recordings, and keep track of upcoming recordings. You can also delete recordings, adjust settings, and use voice search.

TiVo and Verizon launched their service for scheduling TiVo recordings from your mobile phone a few months ago. For $1.99 a month, you can browse or search a program guide and set up recordings on the go.

If you're not willing to shell out that kind of money until you see what the service can do, check out this video TiVoShannan just uploaded to YouTube.



Or you know, you could just make a note of programs you want to record when you hear about them and remember to schedule them when you get home.

[via TiVo Blog]

Verizon has launched the next version of its FiOS TV software in the Fort Wayne, Indiana market. Because you know, Fort Wayne is the epitome of cutting edge.

Anyway, the new interactive media guide looks pretty cool. Here are some of the highlights:

• Enhanced 32-bit graphics with 16 million colors
• Ability to view all channels, favorite channels, or subscribed channels, or HDTV channels only
• New tabbed menu options
• View the program guide in full-screen, half-screen, or mini modes
• Automatic updates
• Search live TV, On-Demand video, or programs recorded on your PVR
• Enter text with a virtual keyboard, a cellphone-style multi-tap display, or using a scroll wheel
• Widgets for weather, traffic, and community info
• Market Place for ordering product,s browsing reviews, or viewing infomercials (does anyone do that on purpose?)

AT&T has officially announces that U-Verse customers can schedule their personal video recorders remotely using AT&T wireless phones and other devices. Users could already schedule their recordings over the web.

Sprint and Verizon each recently announced similar services. Verizon customers can schedule their TiVo recorders remotely and Sprint has partnered with cable providers including Comcast, Cox, and Time Warner to let users schedule recordings on those companies' set-top boxes.

While Sprint and Verizon are charging for their services, AT&T customers who have already signed up for TV and internet service will get mobile scheduling for free.

David Pogue of the New York Times is throwing some love TiVo's way, with a writeup of some of the new features TiVo has added over the last year or two. With what seems like a new feature added every month, it's easy to forget exactly how many things a Series2 or Series3 TiVo can do that a generic cable company PVR can't.

• Share movies you've uploaded with family and friends over their broadband-connected TiVos.
• Schedule recordings through you Verizon cellphone.
• Watch selected web programs via TiVoCast.
• Rent or buy movies from Amazon Unbox.
• Get local weather and traffic.
• Get local movie listings.
• Listen to internet radio stations or download podcasts.
• Automatically record recommended programs from expert-picked Guru Guides.
• Stream music and photos from your PC to your TV.

There's nothing particularly new in Pogue's writeup. But looking at that list, it's hard to see why anyone would stick with a cable company PVR when they can pick up a Series2 TiVo for next to nothing after rebate. If you want high definition on the other hand, the Series3 box's $800 price tag makes this list a little less attractive.

After a long courtship, TiVo and Verizon finally launched a service this month allowing users to schedule recordings through their cellphone. I've long been of the opinion that this is a really cool feature that nobody really needs and few people will use. But the folks at The Tonight Show with Jay Leno seem to have come up with a use that I'd overlooked.



So there you go. I was wrong. There is an upside to being able to schedule your TiVo with a cellphone.

[via TiVo Blog]