According to Huawei Mobile, about 63 percent of UK consumers carry around outdated technology, manage poor battery performance or deal with similar nuisances. In response, the mobile phone maker has been hosting a series of “destruction booth” and “phone break-up party” pop-up events at select London stores as part of its recent “A Phone Anonymous” campaign and in support of the company’s P20 Pro smartphone.
At these events, users who are fed up with their phones are invited to come and select from an array of tools including baseball bats, hammers and sledgehammers. Then they smash their phones to bits, providing a more literal sense to the term “break up.” Not only did the events provide attendees with a much-needed chance to vent their frustrations and perhaps party alongside some local celebrities, but they walked away with brand new Huawei P20 Pros for free.
Locations for pop-up events were shared on social media and attendees were encouraged to share their smashing experiences using the hashtag #APhoneAnonymous. However, the public response to the chance to smash for a free phone turned out to be much greater than anticipated, forcing the phone brand to cancel its final destruction booth event at the last minute as the line grew ever longer. The good news is that there were no angry mobs reported, unlike the recent Build-A-Bear promotion.
Huawei Mobile launched its “A Phone Anonymous” campaign earlier this year with a study that found that short battery life, autocorrect text fails, lack of storage, poor reception quality and outright phone freezes were among the top complaints for consumers. In fact, respondents said that running out of battery at a crucial moment was more stressful than being late to a meeting or starting a new job.
As part of the campaign, Huawei Mobile opened a helpline for people who are sick of their smartphones. Consumers were invited to call “0800 020 9348” and get frustrations off their chests, presumably before their phones ran out of battery life.
