February 19, 2004
WTF Site of the Week : I Robot Now
by Liza Sabater
This site almost got me. The first time I heard the word gullible I was about 20 years old and, in clueless fashion, had no idea what it meant. It comes as no surprise that I was not just shocked but completely floored by I Robot Now, a site I got to via Kaliber10000 { The Designers' Lunchbox }.
Look for yourself and tell if this is not one of the most disturbing marketing plys to date. There is nothing on the actual promotional flash content that tells you that. Only, if only, you are interested in emailing the link to someone using their email client does the jig become slightly apparent:
By filling out and submitting this registration form I understand and agree that my information is being transmitted to the United States. I understand and agree that Fox may send me information about upcoming Fox products, promotions and services and may use information about my activities on Fox web sites to determine what products, promotions and services are likely to be of interest to me.
Now, mind you, this is the first time in the whole site that the word FOX pops-up. It's not until you go to the privacy policy that you are told, that indeed, this is a site owned by Fox Filmed Entertainment. Notice that, in keeping with the commodification practice mentioned by Don Henley in the previous post, they do not talk about movies, cartoons or video anymore : if not, it would be art and not content.
That Fox Films has gone to the extent of creating a site with the sole purpose of duping people as a means of marketing is, well, evil. It may be genius to some. If this were The Yes Men I wouldn't tbe complaining but Fox Entertainment? It's plain wrong.
Posted by Liza Sabater in Advertising, Design, Ethics, Marketing, Media, Movies, W T F, Web
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Say it loud, say it proud!
Actually if you just let the intro play this pops-up:
NS-5 COMES TO LIFE IN FOX'S 'I, ROBOT'
Los Angeles, CA...NS-5, the world’s first fully automated domestic assistant, will be making its feature film debut this summer in Twentieth Century Fox International’s I, ROBOT, it was announced today by Dr. Milton Ashe, Vice President of Android Mechanics.
Directed by the dynamic and visionary Alex Proyas (Dark City, The Crow), I, ROBOT stars Will Smith in this action thriller inspired by the classic short story collection by Isaac Asimov. A slightly paranoid detective (Smith) investigating what he alone believes is a crime perpetrated by a robot. The case leads him to discover a far more frightening threat to the human race. I, ROBOT uses a spectacular, state-of-the-art visual effects technique to bring a world of robots to life. The NS-5, which features 3 Laws Safe, Centralcore 247 and a positronic brain, will play several major roles in the film. I, ROBOT opens in the United States on July 16th and rolls out across the world throughout the rest of July and early August.
Ashe commented, “We are thrilled and honored that Twentieth Century Fox International has chosen Android Mechanics’ NS-5 to star in the must-see film of the summer. With its superior intelligence and unparalleled dependability, the NS-5 is the perfect choice for I, ROBOT and for personal users everywhere.”
Android Mechanics designs and manufactures high quality electronic systems for anthropomorphic robots. Android Mechanics is a subsidiary of Android Mechanics Incorporated.
Twentieth Century Fox International is a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a segment of Fox Entertainment Group.
BTW
What did you think the site was for??? A real working, domestic robot, that will do the laundry, walk the dog, and help the kids with their home work?
If so I got a bridge you may like to buy :)
2
Comment by: me =] at March 18, 2004 09:43 AM
i have to say that the article on the ns-5
that ive put at the bottom of this commentary
got me too.
it IS misleading.
since i dont keep up with
the current state of robots that we have achieved...
the last i knew.
sony is coming out with the QRIO
and honda is working on theirs.
and THEIR robots are tinker toys in comparison
but its pretty safe to assume that some company out there is going to surpass them by leaps and bounds...
and the robot in the ns-5 page seems VERY plausible.
its not completely far fetched to believe that it might be real.
to nay-sayers
we may not be there yet...
but i wouldnt put it past 10 years from now.
sooo...
basically,
what u have is a quite misleading marketing ploy, that i have to say, got me hookline and sinker, as im sure many others were as well.
haha. ;P
dont feel to bad about though...
we just know the potential is there,
it REALLY is just a matter of time.
-me
-------------------------------
Ashe commented, “We are thrilled and honored that Twentieth Century Fox International has chosen Android Mechanics’ NS-5 to star in the must-see film of the summer. With its superior intelligence and unparalleled dependability, the NS-5 is the perfect choice for I, ROBOT and for personal users everywhere.”
Android Mechanics designs and manufactures high quality electronic systems for anthropomorphic robots. Android Mechanics is a subsidiary of Android Mechanics Incorporated.
Twentieth Century Fox International is a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a segment of Fox Entertainment Group.
3
Comment by: me =] at March 18, 2004 09:45 AM
btw.
VERY "war of the worlds"-ish
clever.
4
Comment by: Dazmax at April 16, 2004 12:11 AM
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Asimov31/petition.html
BOYCOTT THE MOVIE! They have no right to name this movie after Asimov's story. In the real story, the 3 laws work, and although the humans constantly worry about robot uprisings, the robots just make the world better for humans. After all, robots are based on logic, they have no reason to be power-hungry if they aren't programmed to. The movie junks this main theme of the story and has the robots revolt, totally invalidating its claim on the same title.
If you are a true science fiction fan, you won't go see this horrible mockery of one the great Asimov's best works. Also sign this petition. It doesn't take long.
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Asimov31/petition.html
5
Comment by: tony bannister at May 7, 2004 11:49 AM
I thought I might submit this for your website of the week.
uncle-tv.com is dedicated to keeping alive the series of 'Uncle' books
written by J.P.Martin and is also about my attempts to develop them into
an animated film.
The books are a riot of nonsense and invention. Uncle is an elephant —
although he could just as well have been anything else— who is
fabulously rich and rides about on a traction engine. His house is
surrounded by a moat and includes one hundred skyscrapers. There are
haunted towers and a shop where a bicycle costs a half-penny and another
in which a broken mouse-trap is priced at five hundred pounds. Transport
is by water chute, Iift and switchback railway. Uncle and his friends, a
very odd lot, have a perpetual feud with the Badfort Crowd and there are
exciting battles conducted in a most unconventional way and with no
permanent casualties.
Intriguingly one publisher rejected the books on the grounds that they
were amoral and said Uncle was "a fascist" whereas The Listener
reviewing the first book said "Uncle is a savage attack on a capitalist
society."
The author, a clergyman, originally wrote the stories in the 1930's for
his own children and they were eventually published in the 1960's. Sadly
they are now out of print.
The books were illustrated by the then little known Quentin Blake who is
now, of course, a very popular author and illustrator of children?s
books. In fact the price of second hand copies of the books is quite
high because of the illustrations.
Hope you enjoy the site.
Best Wishes
Tony Bannister


1
Comment by: BigJoe at March 16, 2004 11:39 PM