Chad and his friends. Alltel's former pitchman has quite a few fans.
Back in January, I wrote a column on what Alltel customers need to know about the merger between their carrier and Verizon Wireless. Most of the questions I addressed in the post came from readers, but the last question was all mine: "Will I no longer have to suffer through those irritating "Chad" Alltel commercials?" I've never been a fan of Alltel's "Chad" commercials, which feature the ever perky and always smiling Chad continuously outsmarting much dorkier reps from the other major carriers.
Now, I have nothing against Alltel, and I wasn't rising to the defense of the other carriers, but I just couldn't stomach someone so relentlessly cheery. And while I liked those ads better than Sprint's gloomy Dan Hesse ad campaign, I didn't get how Chad doing battle with a bunch of nerds told me why Alltel was better as a wireless carrier. To me, there were juvenile and a bit pointless.
To my surprise, however, Chad has more than his share of fans. Immediately after the blog posted, and in the months since, I've received quite a few e-mails from readers firmly defending Chad. I have to admit, I was a little surprised, but the message was clear: Chad is cool and Verizon is not. Here's a section of Chad's fans.
I can tolerate the Alltel commercials with Chad much, much more than the dweeb with all of the weirdo people that follow him in those lame Verizon commercials.
- Michael
I, too, like the Chad commercials and My Circle is very nice, but won't be sad to see Alltel go.
- tt_fan_1
I'm tired of everyone dissing of Chad. It's the other guys that are annoying. It's nice to see Mr Geeks & Nerds get their turn in the spotlight. Without them, the pretty people wouldn't have anything new to play with. Read about the merger--it has nothing at all to do with Chad. He is an all American guy.
- skayrkroh
I really like the Alltel commercials with Chad.
- McArthur
Altell's (the superior carrier) national Chad commercials are far more entertaining than the weirdo dude with the unimportant numskulls standing behind him that are trying to portray themselves as important netwokers for Verizon (the inferior company). Chad commercials were just fine, or at least superior to the "network idiots" on Verizon.
- Michael
I love those Chad commercials! They are cute and funny. I have enjoyed every one of them. Chad is a good and wholesome character. It is a nice change from some commercials. I love Alltel.
- Eleanor
Young Chad has a bit of an attitude, it seems.
(Credit: Alltel Wireless)We all love Chad, don't we? You know Chad: the good-looking, unassuming guy who's taller than his rivals, but not too tall as to intimidate shorter guys, with the square jaw and fauxhawk (are those still in play?), who's so nice and just sincerely wants everyone to be able to share their wireless plans? As long as the plan is from Alltel Wireless Network, that is.
Well, haven't you always wondered what it would be like if we saw those guys as kids? No? Me neither. That's not stopping Alltel from releasing a new spot debuting August 22, but already on YouTube, which shows Chad, as well as his antagonists, as kids.
In the spot, Chad is running his own lemonade stand and is letting his customers share their lemonade with their families. The Sprint (and whatever) kids, they don't like it. The end. The sequence is actually a lot shorter than I expected, but that's probably a good thing. I have to say, though, Campbell-Ewald Detroit, the company that developed the ad, did a great job with casting as the young actors they got to play the kid versions are very spot on. I still miss the chubby Sprint guy they replaced a few months back, though.
The Little Rascal--I mean the "Sales Guys" as kids.
(Credit: Alltel Wireless)Alltel is using the spot to promote its new "My Circle" Family Choice Plus plans. According to Alltel, for $84.99 per month, customers will receive two lines with 1,000 shared minutes and the ability to call any 10 numbers on any network. Also, customers can receive two lines with 2,000 shared minutes and unlimited calling within their "Circle" of 20 numbers for $114.99.
In addition to the unlimited calling within their "Circle," Family Choice plan customers will receive unlimited mobile-to-mobile calls and unlimited nights and weekends. Customers will also have the ability to choose either free evening calls starting at 7 p.m. or 1,000 text/picture/video messages.
The plans include unlimited texting to their "Circle of Friends" and other Alltel customers. Also, customers can add lines to their My Circle plan for $9.99. Not bad, actually. Too bad I just bought an iPhone 3G (which incidentally works much better in Minneapolis than it does in San Francisco, just FYI).
How deeply has YouTube seeped into our collective consciousness and commandeered our culture? Who better to answer that than Oprah Winfrey?
The talk show host on Tuesday is scheduled to interview YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, according to a story in Variety. The Hollywood trade publication reports that characters from popular YouTube videos will also be featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Sure, you techies understand YouTube's cultural significance, but there are still plenty of newbies in this country who need Oprah to boil it down.
Anybody that has ever seen Hurley or Chen speak in public will understand that the pair won't make for thrilling television. Who cares? They have always been a minor sideshow anyway. Their contribution was creating a digital stage for other people to perform on. Upon completing that, they were smart enough to get out of the way.
Still, at this point they deserve to take a few bows. Consider that in the two years since the site launched, their stage has emerged as a vital campaign stump for politicians. Warring countries have launched propaganda campaigns against one other from the site. University students at UC Berkeley log on to view class lectures. Law enforcement from all over the world has used YouTube to try to find missing persons or wanted criminals.
One macabre trend saw mobsters in Mexico taping themselves murdering rivals and then in an attempt to terrorize others, went to the site to post the grizzly scenes.
Celebrities caught on camera misbehaving have seen their careers derailed once the clips made YouTube's Most Popular section. And there's no overlooking the scores of talented singers, comedians and performers who appear on the site daily.
Love it or hate it, who could argue against the fact that YouTube has become a hurricane force in communication and is often the most compelling show on the Web?
Winfrey is apparently convinced. Variety reports that she is launching her own YouTube channel that will include backstage and preview material from her show.
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