Hit and Miss

iOS, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone platforms aren’t the only thing being sold by phone manufacturers.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll have seen these two ads for the HTC Rezound, with Beats Audio. Beats Audio is Dr. Dre’s line of headphones, speakers and bass-heavy, “studio quality” audio gear.

In this piece, the Rezound enriches every aspect of the environment of the cab-riding Manhattanite early adopter. Manhole covers quiver with the beat, a crosswalk becomes a Tom Hanks-worthy piano for the feet, and the words “I feel awesome” fill your ears, repeat. Neat.

But something terrible happened on the way to selling the HTC Rezound.

Somebody watched Inception.

This spot’s hero is riding the subway. Inexplicably, he hasn’t been wearing his headphones while on the subway, but plants Dr. Dre’s ear buds deep when he reaches the street. Naturally, the world (which looks to be the set of How I Met Your Mother) starts exploding in slow motion.

This guy is a disaster. First off, he’s a Cubs fan. Really? Unlike his well-mannered co-Rezounder from the first ad, he eschews the crosswalk for a diagonal crossing of the street, all the while oblivious to the Inception outtakes playing around him. And when he gets a call? Yep, he plants his oblivious self in the middle of a street already narrowed by a construction site. Nice. I want to be just like him.

OK, the song makes reference to the world feeling what his beats feel. Great. Actually, no. Horrible.