You cannot watch television right now without seeing an ad for the new Windows 7 Phone. They look like fun, easy to use little creatures. But do I want to buy it? Not sure. I’m still pretty loyal to the iPhone4 (which has changed my life, again). And they promised that.

The current Windows 7 Phone commercials are a parody of those of us who can’t seem to peel ourselves away from the devices that have allowed us to communicate all too frequently. They present a series of anecdotes where the “smart phone” user is presented with extreme situations (like dropping the phone in the urinal they’ve just used, then retrieving it) and an on-looker quips, “really?”  They are begging the question, do we really care this much about these devices?

Windows 7 Phone is the answer to all of our smart phone woes. They claim the phone is designed to “get us in, get it done, and get out”.  They’re giving us our lives back. It is the phone that will save us from our phones.

To this I beg the question: “Do we want to be saved?”

Though I found this particular set of spots to be very entertaining and often saying, ‘hey, I’d do that.’ I don’t think the over-all message is successful. See, we’re not on our phones so much because of a lack of logical functionality, we’re on them because we need to be! Windows isn’t really solving this problem. My girlfriend loved these spots because she hates how much I use my phone (and complains to me quite a bit about only seeing the top of my head). I admit, I’ve gotten much better about not staying “connected” while out at dinner or with friends. BUT – it doesn’t mean I’m not going to pick the thing up at the next available “acceptable” moment.

By the way, she wants to upgrade her phone as soon as AT&T allows us…yup, to an iPhone4! Remember, she is the one who related most to the ad.

Any new smart phone won’t really save us from our phones — unless it disconnects us.

So, while the ads are entertaining and do a wonderful job pointing out a pretty bad habit facing society today, they don’t really give us a reason to buy. Although, Windows did sell 40,000 in day 1. So maybe I need to pull my head up and look around a bit more.

Perhaps, I’d want to spend less time on the phone if it ran Windows.

A great lesson here. Before you spend bank on your next set of clever ads, be sure you read all the possible messages they’re sending. Don’t sacrifice your dollars and potential customers in the name of being cute. Be cute… but be smart!

The first one comes from Mercedes.  They’re alleging that Santa rides his bike around and works for quality control at a Mercedes factory, which is attached to his home office. No wonder Mercedes are so expensive, they ship from the North Pole?

When Santa isn’t busy assuring quality at Mercedes, he’s shopping for flatscreens at Sears (with the reindeer). I don’t think I’d be allowed to bring my weiner dog into Sears, let alone 12 reindeer.

But be careful out there. That Sears Research Center might not be as simple as it seems. The Consumerist has a story about a woman who wasted 4 hours at various Sears locations trying to find a PS3.

All Santa commercials aside, who doesn’t love ugly sweaters?

Cozy! Sophisticated!

The Kansas City Art Institute’s website lets you make your own digital ugly Christmas sweater.

Happy Holidays!