“12 Months!?!”

A new ad starring Ben Stein and Shaq promoting a special price for Comcast Digital Cable totally misses the mark by showing the two handcuffed together and then making a point to emphasize that they’re going to be shaq-led for 12 months.  The idea is supposed to be that Shaq represents “Being the best” and Ben represents being frugal.  But instead all I get is that I’d be locked into the deal for a year.  It doesn’t help that after the two are handcuffed they are shocked to discover the duration of their deal…

Ben – “I know about being smart with my money…”

Shaq – “…and I know about being the best”

Ben – “and we’re being handcuffed together to show the two sides of Comcast’s Offer on digital cable with HBO.”

Shaq – “The best entertainment on demand, whenever you want it.”

Ben – “For just 29.99 a month, a price that you can lock in for…” (shocked) “12 Months!?!”

While it might actually be a decent offer, the ad comes off as sounding like I’m going to be handcuffed to a contract for a year.  Of course the fine print verifies this by saying “Minimun 1-year agreement required. Early termination fee applies.”  Fail!