Some decision maker(s) at Sprint/Nextel & Blackberry decided that it would be a great idea to have their new commercial revolve around a historical theme of some sort.  Sounds awesome, right?  Yeah, I thought so, too.  Words like pioneering, innovative, creative, and other similar thoughts hit me until the commercial hit me.  That commercial didn't just hit, it cracked...like a whip.  (The link to the commercial will be at the bottom of this blog entry for your viewing disgust).

The "Corpridiots" (feel free to use that term any time you find applicable from now on) at these Companies and the ad agency they used all came to the same conclusion that virtual-slaves in ancient Egypt would make for a sweet commercial.  Why?  What is niftier than the age-old, played out idea of, "What if we could go back in time with technology?"

In the commercial, the virtual-slaves (Hebrews) would have gotten their work done a lot quicker, because orders from the Pharaoh would have been able to reach the slave-drivers more quickly if certain proprietary technology existed during that era.

As if that isn't disgusting enough of a theme for an ad, there is even one point where the virtual-slaves panic in fear if they don't get things done in a hurry.  Another high/lowlight of this commercial is when you see a group of virtual-slaves pulling their virtual slave-driver while he sits comfortably on the stone...and then that virtual slave-driver gets word that they need to be moving in a different direction.  The orders are given, the slaves follow.  Seriously, this commercial looks as if the creators of "Sim City" went insane and created Sim City: The Ten Commandments.  *Note to the people at Sim City, I think you guys are cool.  I'm just painting a picture for the people who have not yet seen this commercial*

I would like to believe that I am neutral by nature when it comes to things like this, so I attempted to look at this commercial from a few different angles.  After little deliberation, my opinion was set, and you are about to read it:

Anyone who owns a Blackberry device or contract/plan (...President Obama, the United States knows you've got one), or Sprint cellular device or plan, do not pay your bills until these Companies issue a formal apology, citing a breach of contract on their end of being discriminatory in poor taste (look in the fine print of your contract, and you should find something to protect you when you take this route).  If there has ever been a more relevant time to show Companies that they need to be held accountable for their actions, now is the time to show the power of being a consumer. 

Foreign & local investors are a group of people who shudder at the very idea of united, angry consumers.  In turn, the likely monetary losses which would result would not be acceptable to the investor(s).  As a consumer, you have partial control over what a Company does.  As consumers (plural) we all can make a huge difference.  Even "iJustine/iJ" got AT&T to make some huge changes in billing that are good for the environment, though some say she had little to do with it.  The people who think she had nothing to do with it are few in numbers, and usually write ignorant stuff as comments to her on her YouTube channel.  So I'll leave you to make the call on that.

For some of you, the Sprint/Blackberry commercial may not have mattered, to others, let me make this simple: 

When was the idea of slavery ever hilarious enough to be a commercial?

If you have questions/complaints, I have gathered all of the information you need to reach Sprint & Blackberry, and some of their affiliates.

(Blackberry) Corporate Head Office

Research In Motion
295 Phillip Street
Waterloo, Ontario
Canada N2L 3W8

tel: (519) 888-7465
fax: (519) 888-7884

http://www.RIM.com

Sprint/Nextel Contact Information:

Dial *2, press Talk
or
888-211-4727 (Sprint phones)
800-639-6111 (Nextel phones)
800-877-4646 (Wireline services)

Business:

800-927-2199 (Sprint phones)
877-639-8351 (Nextel phones)
877-877-8748 (Wireline services)

Make an appointment at a Sprint store.

Mailing address:

KSOPHT0101-Z4300
6391 Sprint Parkway
Overland Park KS 66251-4300

Please include the following information on all written correspondence:

• Customer Name
• Wireless Telephone number
• Account Number
• PIN (if you have one on your Sprint Nextel account)

As promised, here is a link to the advertisement:

http://www.getworkdonenow.com//index.html?pid=4&id12=CHP_Masthead_021509_NextelDirectConnect