BlackBerry was clearly desperate to rebrand itself at the BB10 launch today, but not everyone was impressed.
Today the company named Alicia Keys its global brand director, meaning she'll serve as the creative face for BlackBerry 10.
“We wanted someone at the top of her field, well-respected immensely creative, someone who incorporates tech and creativity into her day-to-day work,” BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins said.
For her part, Keys tweeted:
Excited2jump right in2my new role as Global Creative Director of@Blackberry! #BlackBerry10 #keepmoving #forwardthinking bit.ly/VWrnYZ
— Alicia Keys (@aliciakeys) January 30, 2013
But the publicity stunt fell flat as reporters poked fun at the singer-songerwriter's Instagram account, which is hosted on iOS:
So Alicia Keyes has 1.6 MILLION followers on Instagram...can't wait to see how she keeps the content flowing thru her BlackBerry 10!
— Austin Carr (@AustinCarr) January 30, 2013
BlackBerry giving people free BlackBerry 10s at launch event. Expect to see plenty of those on eBay in about an hour.
— Alex Fitzpatrick (@AlexJamesFitz) January 30, 2013
Let's hope Keys is more Will.i.am for Intel and less Lady Gaga for Polaroid....
— Lauren Goode (@LaurenGoode) January 30, 2013
Only time will tell if Keys' backing draws new users. For now, here's to hoping she has a smackdown with Jessica Alba, the new face of Windows.
[via Venture Beat]
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