Frustrated with the sluggish boot speed of your laptop? Lenovo suggests chucking it out of an airplane with an elaborate parachute rig set to deploy if, and only if, the machine can get itself going before smashing into pieces below. We'd speculate that most contemporary computers, given the proper flight equipment, could make the fall in one piece. But should you find yourself pondering the hunk of twisted metal on the ground that used to contain your life, you might be ready for a new one.
Lenovo would be the brand for you. Its latest ad shows a portable PC, the epitome of grace and poise, surviving just such a skydiving trip—thanks, of course, to its speedy startup time. It's definitely fun watching the machine plummet through the stunning azure skies toward golden prairie—extreme computer sports at its best. But it's a fairly contrived stunt, and the actual selling point—that the laptop takes only 10 seconds to boot up—kind of gets lost in all the drama. (Perhaps case in point: The parachute takes 15 seconds to deploy in the spot; 10 would have made more sense.) Meanwhile, we're not sure a 10-second startup is all that compelling in and of itself. And the spot feels derivative—a similar race-against-time concept in Google Chrome's speed tests is much more effective.
Nonetheless, an unidentified Lenovo shill eagerly attempts to convince us in a behind-the-scenes video (also posted below) that the whole thing is "real"—in the heavily edited, highly stylized manner reality TV hosts tend to employ. Yes, it was an amusing idea to toss a computer overboard, and kudos to the engineers for designing the DVD-tray-triggered parachute chassis. But we can't help but feel it's more entertaining to watch the laptop crash spectacularly against the rocks on the failed attempt than the perfectly staged landing of the final shot in the spot itself. Not the best effect.
CREDITS:
Client: Lenovo
Spot: "Boot or Bust"
Agency: McKinney, Durham, N.C.
Chief Creative Officer: Jonathan Cude
Group Creative Director: Glen Fellman
Art Director: Rachel Marshall
Copywriter: Alex Saiz
Producer: Naomi Newman
Interactive Producer: Brian Kessman
Interactive Production Coordinator: Jesse Wright
Production Company: Humble
Directors: Sam Stephens, John Budion, Hydra
Executive Producers: Eric Berkowitz, Persis Koch
Behind-the-Scenes Director/Director of Photography: Alan Whitcher, Humble
Editor: Nick Regalbuto, Humble