If this is real, itās one of the cleverest things Iāve seen.
Seems staged to me, maybe people leave their chimes on in China but at least around me once the lights go dark people put their phones on mute. Obviously thereās always one jerk still texting away with their portable sun searing itself into my dark-acclimated eyes, but theyāre at least quiet when they do it.
Too bad the text was in English. Since, you know, it was in China.
Thatās only a problem if you consider the people in the theater the main audience.
It wouldnāt be a problem to show them the same text in Chinese, too, and then cut that from the video.
Or since it was Hong Kong, maybe the movie they were there to see was in English.
Anyway, excellent idea.
So ā isnāt anyone freaked about how incredibly easy it is to sniff the phone numbers of a theater full of movie goers? Was that actually legal? Who can get access to this tech, and for what reasons?
Inquiring minds want to know. It seems obvious thereās an extremely high potential for abuse here.
I bookmarked this. Iāll watch it on my commute home tonight ā¦
If itās real, then it probably used a SMS-CB (cell broadcast), which is a form of broadcast alert sent by the local cell-tower. They could have setup a local tower with a limited range and then broadcast the alert. This type of alert also overrides any sound settings to silence phones. In the US and other countries it is commonly used for emergency broadcasts such as tornado alerts or amber alerts.
So no phone numbers were needed. Iām not a GSM expert, but, there is no easy way to āsniffā phone numbers, you can only obtain the EMEI of the nearby devices.
Thanks - it seems like this could quite likely be what they did.
I did a little research, though, and came up with some info about infernal āStingrayā devices used by police. Very frightening stuff.
Yeah, the problem is that the security around cell phone networks is REALLY antiquated. Anyone with a software radio and $30 can emulate a cell tower and wreak all sorts of havoc. Itās all sort of come full circle in the cell phone arena. I remember listening to all sorts of phone calls before the switch from analog to digital. There was no security at all, you just needed a scanner with the right frequencies. Eventually they banned them, but it all became a moot point when they switched to digital. The equipment prices used to be crazy expensive and by 2003 GSM was cracked. But, now anyone with $30 and the right software can listen in 
Nope. Fat guy rapping wins.
This VW ad really says: Donāt text and watch ads. Or donāt text while being a passenger.
I used to get bluetooth advertising on my phone when I walked around downtown. Burning Man had some rogue texting services, so I know this isnāt rocket science.
Yeah, its too bad the text was in English, one of the two official languages of Hong Kong.
Since you want to point out this was in āChina,ā let me point out that the really stupid thing would be if they used the simplified Chinese script used by the mainland, Mandarin-speaking Chinese (as opposed to having it in English or traditional Chinese).
Thank you.
Not only do they leave their chimes on, they talk and scream into their phones just as they would out on the street.
In China, maybe, but not in Hong Kong. Heck, if you wanted to do a Chinese-market driving PSA, Iām guessing that the use of mobile devices wouldnāt be the biggest safety target.
I think youāre being overly harsh. I too thought it was strange that it used English because the agency was Ogilvy Beijing so I had presumed it was for the mainland market. Only on a second watching did I note the on screen text saying it took place in a Hong Kong theater. And still I would imagine theyāve adjusted it in post for viral consumption.
Which brings me to another thought ā¦ am I the only one here who thinks this feels more like prize hunting than effective advertising?
Those are great, but IMO theyāre a lot more entertaining than effective; the visceral shock delivered by the ad in the OP is the opposite; as clear and concise as possible. It only works as a cinema ad though so thereās thatā¦
Oh, and that sort of thing isnāt too great for accident survivors with PTSD.
BTW, I hate when you canāt tell a rapperās an Aussie from their delivery, let alone contentā¦ this is how it should be done, IMO:
Bonus rant: Why in fuck has anybody uploaded anything in less than 480p in the last five years, let alone bloody music videos?!
Drives me round the bend, dammitā¦ the fat rapper you canāt tell isnāt a Yank until he talks is in 144p - in this day and age, for fuckās sake - what a joke!
BTW, any hiphop peeps impressed with that track would do well to check out ButterfingersĀ and Evil Eddie - the dude is a gun. Hereās something to clinch your piqueage, in 720p:
