Recently I came across this ad for koodo mobile, a Canadian brand launched by Telus in 2008 around the time when Mobile Revolutions was born. koodo sports similar sans serif sexiness in it’s branding, targeting a gen y market craving a world free of contracts and unlimited text messaging packages (although the $5 one is a thing of the past). While koodo provides super cheap services, it lacks the ability of smart phone integration and it’s cdma phones are pretty useless if you decide to switch mobile carrier. In koodo’s campaigns feature bug eyes neon youth with nerdy glasses and braces with catchy phases including; koodo-munity, loose that chubby contract, ready to beat the bill budge, and koodo-lutionary.  While koodo’s eye-popping ads predate yours truely, I have noted a change in koodo’s tone from mindlessly ironic to psuedo-revolutionary. Using words like movement (see above) or adding “lutionary” to their brand seems to envoke that to purchase a mobile phone is in itself revolutionary, especially when you are saving money.

koodo is not the only Canadian mobile brand to be pushing itself on the streets as an activist accessory.  Canada’s mobile darling Blackberry produced by Research in Motion has released an ad (that plays all to frequently on CTV) called Blackberry Loves Bono:

While it seems kind of contradictory for Palm investor Bono to perform for Blackberry, I’m sure he got paid enough and felt justified in promoting that there is a new mobile generation that is going to make change.  The ad doesn’t tell us much, but once one arrives at the website it is clear that U2 (maybe an attempt to one up Radiohead?) is producing a mobile album in conjunction with Blackberry.  The mobile album seems more like a U2 application to promote their tour.  The essence seems to be if you want to capture the “mobile generation” (MG, yo!) you have to create an innovative way of distribution that can be reached anywhere.  Simply distributing music is not enough anymore– it must also be interactive.

More and more mobile revolutions have transformed from an underground movement to a full-out full scale corporate marketing campaign.  Mobile growth is touted as activist and Canadian companies are looking to harness that spirit, whether it’s promoting smart phones or discount phone plans.  Of course mobile phones are revolutionizing communications but to use revolution as a means of marketing products seems a bit off putting. As a consumer and academic I am beginning to become more and more suspect of mobile communications companies, as anyone should of any giant corporations.

Bono has been complicit in the past in collaborating with major corporate brands like Starbucks and Apple to raise money for AIDS.  In this case no money is being raised and consumers are told that the power to make change is in our hands.  It is no doubt that mobile phones are useful to activists, but promoting this notion just to boost sales seems contradictory.  If Blackberry and koodo were giving out mobile phones to marginalized youth activists like the million campaign I might feel a bit less morally indignant but this seems like straight up exploitation.