Does Lost in America Deliver AT&T’s Message?
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Well, it’s official. There really is no pleasing me. One minute I’m all up in arms because every other web series is playing fast and loose with the product placement. But then, give me a truly enjoyable series that only barely shows its commercial roots, and I’m all, “Dude, where’s the pitch?” Case in point: Lost in America, the ambitious travelogue-cum-promotional-series from AT&T, produced for Tremor Media by Digital Content Partners and Studio8.
Things start well. I mean, it stars iJustine! Seriously, if you wanna land the point that your network keeps people tapped in wherever they go, who better to brand you than one of the web’s most famous lifecasters? (Sure, she caused a few minor problems for AT&T with that whole 300-page iPhone bill thing, but hey, bygones.) Doubling your fun is Justine’s costar, Karen (of Karenism), a blogger extraordinaire in her own right. And the premise is, let’s drop them off in the middle of nowhere (well, the middle of Anchorage, Alaska; Austin, Texas; and Chicago, Ill. anyway) and give them a series of missions to complete, using only their AT&T phones. Fun!
And, slickly directed by Tubefilter’s Drew Baldwin, it sure looks great. Alaska looks great. Justine and Karen look great. Quality is not remotely an issue here. So why haven’t I rushed out to switch to AT&T yet?
It’s not Justine and Karen’s fault. They attack their missions with such adorable zeal that they may soon be replacing buttons as the official worldwide standard of the cutest thing one can be as cute as. And the missions themselves – uploading photos and video, downloading music, searching the Net – are certainly a reasonable measure of a phone and a network’s capability.
But, thing is, I didn’t really get a feel of why AT&T and the Blackjack 2 were better than anything else they could have been using. Sure, they got great coverage in Alaska, but I had no way of knowing if getting great coverage in Anchorage (a city of 300,000 people) was that big of a deal. (Though getting full bars while on that tiny little plane did seem pretty impressive.)
Also, the web site for the series, with its sporadic Twitter updates and too-thin video blog, really undermines the entire stay-in-touch-while-on-the-go concept. I would have loved to see more blog posts clearly updated mid-mission, or more videos that felt like real behind-the-scenes footage and not just discarded outtakes.
Now, I love the idea of a series that encourages people to step away from the computer without fear of slipping out of touch. And Lost in America, with its two engaging stars having fun adventures in some of America’s greatest cities, totally did that for me. It just didn’t convince me I need to take an AT&T phone with me.
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Comments
Drew Baldwin, November 13, 2008 at 10:31 AM
The focus of the series was on the ubiquity of coverage and at&t’s extensive presence in the United States which allows customers never really to get lost no matter where they go–thanks to GPS, AIM, email, internet, phone, photos, video, etc. And Jill you are right–the supporting content (twitter updates, vlogs, blog posts and pics) is light–for now. We and the girls certainly captured plenty behind the scenes footage and extra feature content and I’m sure you’ll be seeing more of that in the next cities.
As the series evolves I think you’ll notice in Austin and Chicago there is even less emphasis on product and more about how these intensely connected individuals (Justine and Karen)–who cannot go for a second without being in touch with their audience–can still be in touch, and fully, no matter where they go, thanks to at&t. And we have even more fun as Studio8’s creative genius is fully unleashed in wild, wild, Texas.
If viewers can take anything from the series (especially after the dramatic finale), it would be inspiration to grab their phones and get out of and see the world (or the country, rather) and not be afraid to rely upon this extraordinary portable technology that enables us not only to find our way but to stay in touch and share our experiences with others.
The greatest part about doing this series was rediscovering the concept of geography. When we spend most of our day online interacting with people who aren’t there, and whose location is somewhat irrelevant, it is refreshing to get out and feel and smell the real world. And I think at&t hit that point with Lost In America.
Thanks for the review.
Drew Baldwin
Director, AT&T Lost In America
Editor, Tubefilter News
Richard Frias, November 13, 2008 at 10:47 AM
Thanks for the review NTV! Our Austin episodes come out on Nov. 17–don’t forget to watch!
Richard Frias//DCP
Executive Producer
Brock LaBorde, November 13, 2008 at 12:23 PM
NTV! Thank you for checking out our little series. Yes, you nailed it when you called it “ambitious” because it’s definitely one of the biggest, craziest projects we’ve ever taken on. We’ve worked with Justine on a few projects and she’s always a real pro and an absolute treat. Studio 8 produces a variety of comedic items – one-off sketches, commercials, and scripted series, but this was our first “reality” project and we were intimidated. We had to hit the ground running (literally many times) and just hoped that we could keep everything pretty and fun.
I think we started hitting our groove in the Chicago and Alaska episodes, so don’t forget to check those out starting next week.
New devices, new characters, and new surprises await!
That was dorky.
Brock LaBorde
Producer, AT&T’s Lost in America
Owner of Studio8.net
Thedigi Talhobo, November 13, 2008 at 12:27 PM
Not sure whats not to like, Jill. We finally start to see some advertiser supported/created content that is actually entertaining in its own right and you think thats a bad thing? What about branding and not just direct response objectives? Maybe by the end of the series you will be a convert, rather than having to suffer through an overt, obnoxious, over-the-top brand integration in the first episode.
Great job here on subtle, natural, organic product integration that doesn’t make the viewer want to throw up. Instead, they’ll keep coming back for more.
Kudos to AT&T for NOT pushing their brand on us and instead bringing us some truly entertaining content. See you ladies in the next city!
dodacrazy, November 15, 2008 at 6:56 PM
Listen do not try to play your self as a rightous business partner because your not what goes on here is betrayal of the worst kind first your all together package was promoted as the best what they fail to tell you is that they deliever a phone of no skills and tell you that you could upgrade to a better unit after six months then after six months they tell you a year,wait it gets better after a 14 month wait it is now the full two years.I get it better to be tie in with Time Warner and their honest business group .If this is not the case show me different ya we went thru this crap before now i;m gathering my apples and shaking the trees for some great clues stay tuned enough is enough….
dodacrazy, November 15, 2008 at 7:00 PM
WordPress do you trust your consulting company ? Could be a problem in mission alerts or other ways like a pigion express! Gee you can only be so crazy then it gets old fast!
Thedigi Talhobo, January 22, 2009 at 5:32 PM
Hey dodacrazy – If you used some punctuation and proper spelling, you might actually get your point across instead of sounding like a ranting moron. Its “You’re” not “your” both times you used it. Also, it sounds like you’ve got a problem with the cell phone business and not anything to do with the videos. But hey, every moron has the right to display in public just how big a moron they are.
moron.
-TDH.
Roger, September 2, 2009 at 4:49 PM
Well,excuse me if I parted your hair while you was reading my statement. Then your moron comment,how about kissing my ass you prick!