A few days ago, we had carried a story on how the great Foldable Revolution, which many predicted would take over the smartphone world, had stalled. There were a number of reasons for this, ranging from high prices to still untapped functionality potential, but perhaps the biggest reason of all was good old basic durability.
“Does it feel strong/solid enough?” is inevitably the first question we are asked whenever someone sees us using a foldable device. That is because foldables have this reputation of being rather delicate darlings that often break along the crease in their internal display and are not really meant for hefty and rough use. There is this niche-ness about them – they are special and need to be handled with care because they can break.
How Motorola and Nokia helped dispel the “phones break easily” belief
Almost 25-30 years ago, many brands faced the same problem as regards mobile phones in general. Mobile phones were still a relatively new proposition, which made many people nervous while using them. Smartphones were few and far between, and most people tended to use phones very carefully and even fearfully. Most phone brands, however, avoided addressing this issue directly and instead focused on the sheer convenience and design of mobile phones, preferring to stress their niche positioning.
Two big brands, however, took a different approach, with ads that stressed that phones were tough enough for everyday use. Motorola came out with a series of print ads in the early 1990s that made its mobile phones look tougher – “Who needs a phone this tough?” went one ad in 1994, and another showed a phone next to an older, rugged wireless phone used in the Second World War with the messages “Like father. Like son” and “Daddy fought in the war.”
The brand also released a TV ad in India in the 1990s, where a person says he has bought a mobile phone and figured it made sense to get a Motorola. He goes on to say that he is not too worried about the durability of the phone, as it is not as if anyone treats their phone badly or throws it around. Unknown to him, as he is speaking, his very young son has actually taken the phone and is throwing it and bashing it on surfaces (even as his father is saying, “No one goes dang dang dang with their phone!“). The father’s attention goes back to his phone when it suddenly rings – and he discovers that his son had dropped it down a slide as well. The message was simple: the mobile phone is not fragile. (We could not find the ad online – do share a link with us if you do!)
In 2003, Nokia drove (pun intended) the same message home with arguably one of the greatest ads in the history of tech. The brand had already made a name for tough phones with the Nokia 3310 that some claimed would break the pavement it fell on, but with the Nokia 1100 ad in 2003, it showcased durability like no phone brand had.
The Nokia 1100 was one of the most affordable phones of its time, and a minute-long ad showed it being used in different conditions by an Indian truck driver, who even left it dangling in front of his truck (showing it was dust resistant). The brand also came out with print ads that stressed the anti-slip grip on the phone (assuring users the phone would not slip out of their hands easily – a key concern) and its dust resistance. Again, the messaging was simple: mobile phones are tough.
Both brands had made ads for specific models, but as mobile phones were still relatively few in number, the impact of the ads was felt across the industry and the market. Yes, many mobile phones actually remained fragile (well, many are even today!), but these campaigns from leading brands played a key role in dispelling the line of thought that ‘all phones are fragile’.
“All that folds is not fragile” – a OnePlus Open ad that could benefit ALL foldables
OnePlus’ recent campaign around its first foldable, the OnePlus Open, could end up doing something similar for the foldable phone category. While most marketing campaigns around foldables have revolved around their power and versatility, OnePlus has chosen to highlight how durable the OnePlus Open is. The ad is available on YouTube under the name “Tested for chaos – Open for anything” and comes with a much more direct title on Instagram “All that folds is not fragile – stay open for anything“. It was released online a few weeks ago but is being seen a lot on television of late.
The ad is about 45 seconds long and is simple. Two friends meet in what seems to be a cafe. “Hey, got a new phone?” says one, pointing to the OnePlus Open in the hand of the other. “Yeah, I have had it for about a month,” he replies. “Looks sturdy,” the first one responds, and as the word “sturdy” echoes, the person with the OnePlus Open starts thinking of what the foldable has been through. And what follows is basically every foldable user’s nightmare: the phone is dropped, falls off tables (with some assistance from a pet dog), is flipped (flapped!) open and shut recklessly by a child, is sat upon when in tent mode, is hit by a tennis ball and even stepped on by a football player, among other things. As the ad switches back to the present, the OnePlus Open user smiles, remembering what the foldable has been through, and placing the OnePlus Open on the table, says, “Tell me about it.” As both friends fade out, a series of messages appear on the screen – Tested for drops, Tested for kids, Tested for pets, Tested for chaos, Tested for a million folds.
There is no talk of the cameras, processor, RAM, or displays…the ad has a single message: the OnePlus Open can take a lot of rough use. And that is a message that every foldable brand needs to get across to its customers. There are some very tough foldables out there – the Samsung Gaalxy Z Fold 5 comes with Gorilla Glass Victus 2, an Armor Aluminum frame, and IPX8 water resistance – but this is the best rebuttal we have seen of the “foldables are fragile” belief that is prevalent in the market. There are no celebrities, no specs, no adjectives…just a device going through some very tough treatment and surviving it all to tell the tale. Just like the Motorola and Nokia phones did in those epic campaigns more than two decades ago. And just like those campaigns helped dispel fears about mobile phone durability, this one could do the same for foldables.
Of course, the ad has its weak points – “a month” is no time to judge the durability of a phone (perhaps the person should have said, “I have had it for a while” in the ad, as the Open has been around since October 2023), and the phone is not shown coming in contact with any water (a key risk) right through the ad. Even so, we think it gets the message across and also places the foldable in a very ‘normal’ and everyday setting that is different from the productivity scenarios in which most ads place such devices. And it proves that contrary to popular belief, a foldable can survive everyday life in a manner that is engaging (even mildly amusing) and easy to understand, with hardly any words needed. “All that folds is not fragile” might be a campaign for the OnePlus Open, but it is the ad that all foldables need right now.
