Why is Darth Vader Selling Smartphones in Japan?

Posted on November 27, 2010 by John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB7nMNjt5u0

Over the weekend, I was reading about how Japan’s largest cell phone carrier NTT DoCoMo has been pushing Samsung smartphones since they don’t carry Apple’s iPhone. And the person pitching the commercials? Darth Vader:

“A NTT DoCoMo spokeswoman said the company started featuring Lord Vader in commercials this summer along with famous Japanese actor Ken Watanabe to play the human representation of customizable DoCoMo phones. When the carrier started selling Galaxy phones in the autumn, featuring Darth Vader in the new ads happened to be a perfect fit.”

I’ve re-read that explanation a few times and I’m still like, WTF? I have no idea how Darth Vader represents customizable DoCoMo phones in this commercial.  Do you?

About John

I'm a Taiwanese-American and was born & raised in Western Massachusetts, went to college in upstate New York, worked in Connecticut, went to grad school in North Carolina and then moved out to the Bay Area in 1999 and have been living here ever since - love the weather and almost everything about the area (except the high cost of housing...)
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