1 post tagged “advertising”

For the last few months I've been seeing ads for Marriott's new "Ultra Adaptable" rooms in various video podcasts. The ads feature stark white rooms with shape shfting futuristic furniture: giant pulsing speakers, a massive fold-out multi-screen display, a magic spinning holocube.

All the ad says is: "Plug in: the first ultra adaptable room from Marriott." The viewer is left thinking what am I seeing? Is this real? What is an ultra adaptable room? It's one of those commercials that is well suited for web viewing because you can quickly search to find out what the comapny is actually trying to advertise.

I resisted the urge to look it up for a while but today I cracked. It turns out, Marriot's new rooms are a faaaaar far cry from the Phillip K. Dickian future world presented in the ads. But, they are, in-fact, more interesting. We get a mid-def LCD TV (1366, 768) and a front-mounted jack panel with AC power, VGA-in, DVI-in, composite-in, headphone-in, phone, and network. Many times I've brought my own gaming console and wanted to hook it up to a hotel tv only to find no available connections. It always feels like a subtle push to pay for the overpriced on demand flicks. Now, Marriot is giving their guests what they want and making it as convenient as possible.

In fact, that's what the ad should say. Next time, guys, skip the confusing "art" ad and just show us the rooms.