Does any of this look familiar to you?

I have to admit it does to me. Of late I’ve become more and more aware of how frequently I check various social networks and apps on my iPhone.

Oddly I’ve found it’s the times I didn’t have the phone with me that made me most aware of when I would have checked it. It’s almost unconscious; standing in a queue – reach for the iPhone, waiting for the kettle (at work not home) to boil – reach for the iPhone. I have clearly formed a habit.

On a recent day out I hadn’t charged my iPhone and so my use of it was dramatically limited. My wife commented that it was “nice to have me there” and I could only agree – it was much more relaxing and rewarding to fully “be there“.

But I digress. I clearly fully recognise the the syndrome this advert describes, but I don’t see how it works to promote a new smartphone. I’ve read that it is targeted at non-smartphone users, but don’t see how will highlighting behaviour that is a potential annoyance to that audience will encourage them them to buy a smartphone, and quite possibly become a heads-down smartphone user.

That being said – it is a great ad.