Edward Norton Sings Karaoke, Crashes Plane in Bizarre Verizon Droid Ad
If there’s one takeaway from Verizon’s newest phone ad, it’s probably that Edward Norton needs to do more karaoke. The actor stars in the Droid Maxx commercial that is a mini-movie about Norton’s adventure-packed 48 hours. He sings karaoke, meets a girl, crashes a plane and almost dies at the hands of a really creepy dude. But thanks to his trusty phone, he remains unscathed — unless you count waking up in a morgue. The commercial ends with the tagline “Whatever you do in 48 hours, Droid does,” referencing the phone’s impressive battery life. The ad also showcases Google’s hands-free commands in several scenes, most notably when Norton is tied up and hanging upside (a situation Verizon probably assumed we could all relate to?) The spot aired on television Dec. 5, but was posted to YouTube a week prior. The video already has more than 9 million hits. Verizon’s recruitment of A-lister Norton comes after Robert Downey Jr. starred in a similarly odd ad for the HTC One over the summer. That campaign didn’t seem to do much for HTC’s sales. Now only one question remains: Could the Droid Maxx survive a fight club? BONUS: The Most-Shared Ads of 2013 The Most-Shared Ads of 2013 1. Dove “Real Beauty Sketches” 4.24 million shares Dove uses a clever method to make women confront misconceptions about their appearance and the result prompts some very emotional reactions. Video: YouTube, doveunitedstates 2. Geico “Hump Day” 4.03 million This ad, featuring an excitable camel, gets a spike in views every Wednesday. Video: YouTube, GEICO Insurance 3. Evian “Baby & Me” 3.34 million The sequel to the uber-successful “Roller Babies” ad does just fine on its own. Video: YouTube, EvianBabies 4. Kmart “Ship My Pants” 3.05 million A silly, off-color pun goes from mildly amusing to hilarious in 30 seconds. Video: YouTube, Kmart 5. Cornetto “Yalin Keyfi Yolunda, Aşkı Sonund” 2.91 million A Wes Anderson-esque tale of young love from Turkey. Video: YouTube, cornetto turkiye 6. Budweiser “Brotherhood” 2.72 million One of the best-received ads of this year’s Super Bowl features a sentimental trainer raising a Clydesdale. Video: YouTube, NFL TV Super Bowl Ads 7. PepsiMax “Test Drive” 2.69 million OK it was fake, but it was fun: Nascar driver Jeff Gordon goes incognito for a test drive and an actor does a great job pretending to be freaked out. Video: YouTube, Pepsi 8. MGM/Carrie “Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise” 2.17 million More fakery, this time in a coffee shop to promote the movie Carrie. Is it me or does everything seem fake about this? Ironically the movie was overtaken by Gravity at the box office. Video: YouTube, CarrieNYC 9. Ram Trucks “Farmer” 1.88 million Another ad that proves that you don’t have to (try to) be funny to be remembered during the Super Bowl. The ad was a rip off of an older one, but this one was much better. Video: YouTube, ram 10. Volvo Trucks “Jean-Claude Van Damme Epic Split” 1.82 million A latecomer, Jean-Claude […]
