March 13, 2008 1:35 PM PDT

Virgin Mobile turns Spitzer woes into ad copy

by Leslie Katz
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Virgin Mobile Spitzer ad

One man's prostitution scandal, apparently, is another man's marketing angle.

(Credit: Virgin Mobile Canada)

Virgin Mobile Canada knows how frustrated people can get with the lack of personalized service these days. Faster than Eliot Spitzer could say, "Um, oops," the company came out with a print ad that features the newly former New York governor, aka Client #9, musing as follows under a thought bubble: "I'm tired of being treated like a number..."

"At Virgin Mobile," the ad goes on to say, "you're more than just a number. When you call us we'll treat you like a person, not a client. Whether you're #9 or #900, you'll get hooked up with somebody who'll finally treat you just how you want to be treated."

According to Nathan Rosenberg, chief marketing officer at Virgin Mobile, the ad will run in two Toronto daily newspapers this week as part of the company's "You call the shots" campaign. "We weren't planning on an ad featuring Governor Spitzer, but he caught our attention this week," said Rosenberg.

The campaign is also featuring Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. What, Canada doesn't have any joke-worthy targets of its own?

Leslie Katz, senior editor of CNET's Crave, covers gadgets, games, and most other digital distractions. As a co-host of the CNET News Daily Podcast, she sometimes tries to channel Terry Gross. E-mail Leslie.
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I hope this time they got Spitzer's consent to use his pic
by anon8mizer March 13, 2008 4:36 PM PDT
Unlike the last time when Virgin Mobile took some photo off of Flickr with a creative commons license.
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Public figures = public domain
by gmon750 March 13, 2008 6:15 PM PDT
No consent is necessary as Spitzer's image here as a politician is public and no permission is needed.
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spitzer ad
by gneiss45rock March 13, 2008 7:06 PM PDT
interesting ad--casts the mobile phone company in the role of prostitute So many users (and those innocently abused/assaulted by the public verbal clutter of cell phones) might find that characterization seemly
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I will Spitz on his grave...
by AppleSuxLeo March 14, 2008 6:43 AM PDT
or maybe ****...or both ? The F-ing hypocrite !
I have to find.this ad
by emoslayer6224 March 18, 2008 8:08 AM PDT
This is th kind of ad that's labeled "heresy" in the states. I want to move to canada. By the way, doesn't it speak to anyone hat thy had to cross the border to find a scandal like this?
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