Dear Cisco, You’re Doing it Wrong

There has been a TV ad running lately for Cisco in which a kid in a skate park uses his cellphone to take a picture of a skateboard he’s designed and sends it to a skateboard design company which instantly turns it into a consumer product.

The ad is supposed to show how Cisco helps transmit images and ideas quickly.  It is also intended to make Cisco look “hip.”  Why would a company like Cisco want to appeal to skateboarders?  I have no idea.

Not only does it demonstrate just how quickly youth culture is being snapped up by mass-producers but they’ve pissed off the skateboarder’s too.

From WoodenCotton:

“A friend led me to this nice little commercial done by Cisco Systems. I guess their trying to appear “cool and hip,” but as a skater you notice a lot of messed up things in the commercial, just come take a look.”

From SubLimited:

“Once again, some ad agency shows the skateboarding world they don’t have a clue when it comes to portraying skateboarders accurately in an ad campaign for Cisco. Then again, are skateboarders really their target audience? Probably not, but why not get it right? I actually am a consumer of Cisco products since I’m a business owner, and if I didn’t understand the advertising world I’d totally be turned off on Cisco. And as usual, the sad part is that it wouldn’t have taken all that much effort to get it right.”

Nice work, Cisco!

1 Comment

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  By oldguy, February 21, 2008 @ 4:02 pm

  touchy bunch these skaters…kind of like the cavemen eh?

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