Ad Age says Verizon’s mysterious ad for its iPhone killer Android smart phone misses the mark on both messaging and targeting.  The copy-heavy ad starts by listing the iPhone s shortcomings, such as not having a keyboard nor being able to run applications simultaneously.  The list is set to upbeat music.  It then very suddenly segues into what looks and sounds like the opening sequence for a sci-fi movie to deliver only the product name, a November release date and a web site call to action.

The ad has been running during mainstream programming such as Major League Baseball playoff games.  Ad Age says the messaging, which it sees as too techie and ambiguous to begin with, is completely off the mark for the audience.  The iPhone Blog editor Rene Richie agrees, citing how an informal survey of her readers found most couldn t say what product the ads were pitching.

Watch it at Ad Age {link no longer active}.