Selling a phone. In China.
Recently Nokia was faced with a problem. How do we sell a $1300 cell phone to people in China (or those who read Chinese and purchase it through some very interesting channels)? Well, the answer is apparently to take two of China’s favorite things and put them together: Ping pong and Bruce Lee. Because the only thing better than those two things independently, is Bruce Lee dominating the game with his martial arts.
So, with an incredibly cool video, Nokia has unleashed it’s special edition N96 phone into Chinese markets. You can, of course, get the phone here in America for about $900 (unlocked… hence the high price tag) but then you won’t be receiving all of the goodies that make the deal both ridiculous and ridiculously cool:
- the Bruce Lee personalized N96 with his portrait and signature
- rare images of Lee
- a weird nun-chuck looking bookmarky type thing…. (which I believe is actually a wrist-strap)
- and best of all, Enterbay’s Bruce Lee doll
It seems like a pretty good idea on the surface, but I sincerely question the use of Lee’s identity after his death. Would he be willing to endorse this product? (and the answer could just as easily be yes as no here) Frankly, no one knows, but it feels awkward and slightly opportunistic. I’m not entirely sure that it’s an appropriate use of image since Lee has no say in how his legacy is being used.
Either way, that video is extremely cool and the N96 packaging and design are both pretty nice.
