Yeah I would like to know where it is too.

I hope it isn't as crazy as Staten Islands'

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Hey Virgin Mobile, You talkin' to me? Wireless phone ads target Island stereotypes

Staten Island Advance June 10, 2007

Snarky or savvy? You decide.

"I'm not offended by it," said Brianna, as she stood in a bus shelter on Richmond Terrace in St. George, gazing at a new Virgin Mobile USA ad that the phone company designed especially to appeal to Staten Islanders.

"But not everybody is Italian," said Brianna, who declined to give her last name. "I'm not."

It's all part of a new Virgin Mobile advertising campaign targeted to "celebrate individuality," said company spokeswoman Jayne Wallace.

She said the "community-centric" ads -- that on Staten Island note the borough's passion for pasta and reliance on ferry and bridge travel -- are meant to appeal to customers and non-customers alike.

"These are things that the communities are known for," said Ms. Wallace of the 15 "teaser" ads on the Island with a "you rule" theme, created as part of a larger advertising campaign by Virgin Mobile USA that trumpets putting "customers in control of their wireless service."

The ads here read:

"Staten Island, you rule. The name says it all. You are truly an island, physically and mentally. Thank you for your front yards, detached garages and SUVs. Thank you for the ferry -- the best cheap date ever. Thank you for being our down-to-earth, suburban, predominantly Italian-American cousins. To show our gratitude, we've got something for you. No, not baked ziti -- cell phone plans without annual contracts, so you're not locked in. And with no annual contract, you're free to move between our other plans. Like you would on a bridge or ferry."

Ms. Wallace said there are 350 such ads on billboards and wallscapes, bus shelters and phone kiosks throughout the five boroughs and northern New Jersey. Up since mid-May, the ads here kick off a nationwide campaign that will begin in July and may include localized pitches to customers in other states.

She said the ads were created by the North Carolina-based advertising firm of McKinney. But she said New Yorkers at the firm and at Virgin Mobile helped craft the message to Islanders.

The ads appear in Arlington, Bay Terrace, Bloomfield, Castleton Corners, Concord, Greenridge, New Dorp, Rosebank and St. George.

Ads around the city are pitched to bike messengers, bodega owners, hot dog vendors and theater-goers.

Ms. Wallace said the company has received some positive -- and not so positive -- response, primarily from bloggers in Brooklyn. All to the good, she said, as a way of "engaging" customers and potential customers.

Ms. Wallace said Virgin Mobile USA has more than 4.6 million customers, but was unable to provide the number locally.

--- Contributed by Judy L. Randall

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Also see

http://www.nypress.com/blogx/display_blog.cfm?bid=47722640

http://gothamist.com/2007/06/11/you_rule_while.php

http://copyranter.blogspot.com/2007/06/lies-well-disguised-37.html

anyone know where the JC one is and what it says? I think that they are kind of funny (and I think the fact that people are getting all worked up about it and talking about it says a lot too)

Quote:
How can all the neighbourhoods rule at the same time? Of course, for some of them, no reasonable "you rule" ... reason can be made up, but it's a nice try from the copywriters to have their job done, eventually for free.

For a Salute to Neighborhoods, Some Heartfelt Bronx Cheers

By DAN LEVIN - New York Times
Published: June 17, 2007

KAREN SILVERMAN, an East Village jeweler, was walking her Chihuahua down East Houston Street the other day when a red sign on a phone booth caught her eye. “Lower East Side, You Rule,” it declared. Below, the small print thanked the “bohemian” neighborhood for its artsy roots and for “keeping it real, even in the shadow of your new, overpriced condos,” before advertising pay-as-you-go cellphone plans from Virgin Mobile.

Ms. Silverman was not amused.

“Wow, that makes me feel dirty — what a way to whore out my neighborhood,” she said before marching off in disgust toward Katz’s Deli.

Across the five boroughs (and Jersey City), passers-by are being told “you rule” on more than 350 bus stops, phone kiosks, billboards and building walls. And though city residents are accustomed to being bombarded by advertising, some of them are saying that a marketing campaign that irreverently needles New York’s neighborhoods and subcultures to lure customers goes too far.

The ads are already triggering a spirited debate on local blogs like Curbed, Brownstoner and Bed-Stuy Blog, which have crackled with accusations of corporate exploitation and racial insensitivity. For example, some critics condemn the “Bed-Stuy, You Rule” ad for highlighting the neighborhood’s rough reputation and its residents’ fears of gentrification, all in a quest to sell phones. Or, as the ad puts it: “Do or Die is more than a moniker. It speaks to the fact that you don’t take crap from anyone. Especially newcomers who want to change Bed-Stuy into some sort of yuppie strip mall.”

Executives at Virgin Mobile USA responded to calls for the ad’s removal by offering to replace it with text submitted by residents themselves. No text deemed suitable has yet been submitted, but generally the executives say they are happy that people are paying attention to their ads.

“We’re either equal-opportunity celebrators or equal-opportunity offenders,” said Howard Handler, the company’s chief marketing officer. “The reality is that we’re stirring up a dialogue and people are talking about our services.”

The company has stumbled into other turf trouble. Initially, an ad on the Upper West Side that mocked the Upper East Side — saying, in part, “It’s not cool to be tied down and uptight. If you want to live like that, move to Greenwich, or at least across the park” — was installed on the wrong side of Central Park. It was removed later the same day, but not before the fumble was reported and ridiculed on some Web sites.

Still, for some New Yorkers the ads are comical. John Reardon, an information technology consultant who lives in Murray Hill, chuckled when he came across a phone booth ad extolling the virtues of his neighborhood.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard ‘Murray Hill’ and ‘Rule’ used in the same sentence before,” he said. “The copywriters certainly deserve some credit for this. It’s not that easy to go from bashing Sutton Place to selling prepaid phone service in less than 50 words.”

Curbed 1 - You Rule -- Click Here

Curbed 2 -- You Rule -- Click here