I am no big fan of the double-spread ad, simply because they almost cry out to the reader to flip past the page and ignore it.

But this one, I could not miss. A very-expensive 4-page spread today, for Sprint’s “Fair and Flexible” plan.

The details of the plan are pretty neat, but it is the visual communication that’s very impressive.

Opening headline: “What if the rest of the world were like the wireless industry?”
(This reminded me of that famous joke: “what if Microsoft designed automobiles?” so I read on.)

Inside 2 pages: There is no copy, save the “Playground rules” sign on a fence that 4 kids scrutinize. It reads:

Rule 1: You have to guess how many minutes you’re going to use the ball –for the next two years. Don’t guess too high or too low, or you’ll be sorry.

Rule 2: Whoever is new on the playground is more special. It’s just the fact. Therefore, new kids get the new things. Old ones don’t.

Rule 3: There will almost never be anything cool and exciting to play on. If there is, it’ll be really tricky to get it to work.

Rule 4: If you don’t like the rules, try another playground. It’ll be exactly the same.

If I was to reverse engineer the strategy here, I can almost see the client brief requesting the agency to:

a. Stress that the plan adjusts to the user, not the other way around.
b. Reposition other cell phone carriers as being a trap, intent on penalizing the customer.

At which point the agency warns that it would also be admitting that Sprint’s previous plans were user-unfriendly. To which the client then responds, it’s a worthwhile risk! (Agencies love that. They often quote the line about not taking risks being the greatest risk of all..)

What I particularly liked was Rule #2. I am at the end of my plan, and asked Sprint (yes, them!) what they can do for me, and they practically said nothing, ta ta, bye bye. The last time I adjusted my plan to take advantage of lower minute usage during an upcoming vacation, they renewed my contract without telling me! I swore I would ‘try another playground.’

I am surprised I’m even saying nice things about their new campaign!