Samsung Mobile started airing TV commercials yesterday that feature none other than Ozzy Osbourne – and the Samsung Propel messaging phone.
In the ad, Ozzy, mumbles and struggles to communicate verbally with various people. So, instead of being misunderstood, he whips out his Propel phone to text his message to the other person, who happens to have a device handy to read his thoughts. You can see the spot at Samsung’s newsroom.
Kim Titus, director of public relations for Samsung Mobile, said the primary message is the phone’s great texting capabilities, with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Plus, Osbourne is a celebrity who crosses demographics – older people remember him from Black Sabbath, and younger people have seen his family’s reality show. Both Osbourne and his wife, Sharon, reviewed the ad, which is running on ESPN, MTV and USA Today through Dec. 7.
It’s not the first time Samsung has tapped a celebrity; it has worked with Beyonce, among others. But it’s one of the few times Ozzy has made an appearance as a spokesman for a tech company. Titus said Samsung wasn’t revealing how much Ozzy was compensated.
Last week, Strategy Analytics said Samsung overtook Motorola in terms of number of handsets shipped in the United States in the third quarter, putting it in the No. 1 U.S. position for the first time.
