Regular readers know that Facebook Home will be hitting the Android app store Friday, as well as premiering as the starting user interface on the new HTC First, a mid-range smartphone. Of course, Facebook is moving into new territory here — this is the first time an actual device can be seen as a “Facebook device”, and success here could mean Facebook iPads, Facebook Galaxies, the first Facebook-compliant microwave, etc.  So it’s not suprising that they have decided to back up their standard online marketing campaigns with a TV commercial.

What is suprising is how bad their commercial is.

Let it all sink in. The pasty, hipster protagonist who you don’t care about in the beginning and despise by the end.  The swimmers trapped in the luggage compartment. The glaring continuity errors (at 0:52, it’s revealed that the plane is both taking off and simultaneously at cruising altitude). And, under it all, a foreboding trombone melody that suggests that buying a Facebook phone will give you indigestion.

The truly upsetting fact about this commercial’s production is that it was made by Weiden & Kennedy. If that name doesn’t mean much to you, it should: Weiden & Kennedy essentially made Nike. Their client roster includes Coca Cola, Converse and Sony. They are one of the best houses in the industry. Discovering that they made this commercial is like discovering Apple’s next iPhone will use magnetic tape.

So what happened exactly? This commercial has one redeeming quality: very specific targeting. The hipster protagonist represents a particular type of early adaptor: constantly in contact (which is why he was using his phone as he stowed his bag), interested in technology for technology’s sake (which is why the commercial ended with “a new experience for your phone”, and not “a new experience for you”) and who possesses a rich private life (hence the very specific type of singer, his nephew, etc). He feels like an iceberg, but beneath the skin is a deep man with complex interests and a need to keep up with all of the people in his life that he loves and cares for.

Weiden and Kennedy knew their audience, did the research and created the perfect profile of the targeted customer. And then they made a commercial so specific that it not only appeals solely to this customer, but actively alienates everyone else.

Also, the the commercial sells a social media product but does not actually include any plugins to any social media sites. Not even a twitter hashtag. There must be some reason, but we do not know what it is.
Update: For exactly three hours, a beta for Facebook home was online and available to download. Facebook has asked that the app be removed and cut off all feeds to it.