The Droid ‘Opera’ commercial: Color me obsessed

By Mad Dog
Published: Sep 06, 2013

The child mocks me for talking back to the television (“You’re sooo critical”) but how can you not react to this?

The setup: two attractive people at the opera. He’s hot, in the Jon Hamm way (black tie but unshaven). She’s hot, in the Mika Brzezinski way (blonde and chilly). He’s seated in the middle of the theater, she’s in a box above him and on the side. They text photos back and forth, then leave together.

The commercial is called “Have We Met?” The clear suggestion: they haven’t. In that case, he doesn’t have her phone number and she doesn’t have his — so how can they text photos back and forth? And it’s the theater. Surely there was an announcement before the performance to turn off all electronic devices — why didn’t they? (Small point: they leave at 8:20; the performance had just started. And already he was napping?) Final question: Whose apartment do they go to — or do you think that’s not the point of the commercial?

I’m a huge fan of exchanging glances at a dull cultural event and leaving early — in my lost youth, I had some memorable nights doing just this — but that was pre-technology and required modest skills in hand and facial gestures. In this version, the phone must be magic: just point it at someone and the device makes the introduction for you. Really? If so… get a Droid.