Apple iPhone - "Rainy Day" with Zooey Deschanel

I don't listen to She and Him.  I didn't see "500 Days of Summer."  I don't watch "The New Girl."  The reason I haven't sampled these pieces of pop culture is simple: they all prominently feature actress Zooey Deschanel.

Hipsters and nerds take heed, because you're probably not going to like the rest of this post.  I won't be offended if you watch the commercial below and leave the page.  I promise I'm not bashing Zooey for the sake of bashing, she just has some traits I find painfully grating.

Here is the ad I'll be reviewing:

I think most people know by now that the iPhone is a very good cellular phone.  Many people even know that Siri, the iPhone's voice recognition application, is pretty damned sweet.  But for those that don't know, this commercial is meant to show that Siri can interpret your requests in a conversational manner.  Pretty cool, right?  Right.

The trouble I have with this commercial is that Zooey Deschanel is once again reprising her "quirky cute girl" role.  And since this is conceivably a glimpse at what Zooey is like when she's really at home on a rainy day, I surmise that she is (or at least wants the public to believe that she is) indeed a quirky cute girl.  It sure seems like a schtick to me, though.

Let's get down to the picking of the nits.

The commercial opens with her asking Siri if it is raining.  Seems like a reasonable question to ask, especially if you're at work or somewhere with no access to windows.  However, we can clearly hear the rain pelting the house before she even activates Siri.  Also, as curmudgeonly as this may sound, are people so lazy that they need to ask an automated voice on their cell phone if it's raining?  You can't take 5 steps and look out the fucking window?  Oh wait, after she gets confirmation from Siri that it is raining, that's EXACTLY WHAT SHE DOES.  Siri just stole 4 seconds of your life, Zooey.

Sticking with the trend of laziness, a pleased-about-the-rain Zooey then orders some tomato soup (do people really order tomato soup for delivery?) to be delivered because she doesn't want to put on real shoes.  Her weird glancing back and forth out the window at :08 sort of pisses me off, and I have no good reason why.  It's just one of those quirky cute things I talked about, I guess.

Then Zooey uses Siri to help her procrastinate cleaning her house, even though the only thing that really needs cleaned up is a bunch of books on the couch and floor.  I would guess it would take about two minutes to put all those books away, which means she would still have plenty of time to dance to "Shake, Rattle and Roll" before her tomato soup gets delivered.

I've been told Zooey is attractive because of her bangs, voice (speaking, not singing) and her down-to-earth-ness.  I don't get it, but to each their own.  A lot of people probably don't understand my affinity for K-pop stars Girls' Generation.

To sum this commercial up, I would say it does a decent job of displaying the product, but it does so in a really annoying way.  The ad could be a commercial for a Zooey Deschanel movie or tv show just as easily as a phone.  It's not Pomplamoose Hynudai commercial bad, but it's still pretty awful.

And for what it's worth, the Sam Jackson Siri commercial isn't much better.  I say that as a huge fan of Master Windu, too.

Final Grade: D

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